My mom’s mom was called Lola, but I knew her real name: Granny. She was a loving woman who was always happy to see me. When Granny died in September 2005, her brother quoted these words from Psalm 116: “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (That’s from the [...]
Archive for the ‘Grief’ Category
Day 187: Psalms 115-118
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Grief, Psalms, tagged death, faith, funeral, life, religion, spirituality on March 5, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Day 155: Job 11-13
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Grief, Job, tagged God, health and wealth gospel, life, spirituality, tragedy, wisdom on February 2, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Zophar returns the conversation to Bildad’s assumption that calamity in a person’s life is always due to that person’s wrongdoing. Job replies sarcasticly and calls his “friends” self-righteous, delusional know-it-alls. He reframes God’s unfathomable wisdom and continues in faithful perseverance. When we hurt, we try to figure things out. We attempt to understand. We strive [...]
Day 153: Job 5-7
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Grief, Job, tagged comfort, fear of God, life, ministry, mourning, presence, silence, spirituality on January 31, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Silent presence is kindness. It is practicing the fear of God. Dr. John Mark Hicks’ blog post about Job 6-7 begins, “Is this how you react, Job asks, to a ‘despairing man’? Whoever withholds ‘kindness’ from a friend, according to Job, ‘forsake[s] the fear of the Almighty’ (Job 6:14). Job did not give up the [...]
Day 100: Second Samuel 19-21
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Grief, Second Samuel, tagged death, life, mourning on December 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Life goes on, but grief changes things. David mourns his son’s death. He’s shaken, and he hides and weeps (2 Sam 18:33). Then Joab encourages David to return to leadership (2 Sam 19:5-7). Some people try to help grievers to “get over it,” but loss is not something we get over. We should not rush [...]
Day 95: Second Samuel 1-3
Posted in Bible in a Year 2011-2012, Grief, Second Samuel, tagged David, death, mourning on December 4, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
We grieve in diverse forms: tears, regret, worship, celebration, memorials, stories, flowers… Upon the death of a loved one, some mourners experience a sudden burst of grief. Others travel a long road of gradual grief. Some want to grieve with family and friends, while others prefer privacy. Tom Long has written a valuable contribution to [...]
The Happiest Sadness: A Funeral of Tears and Smiles
Posted in Grief, tagged Christianity, Funerals, life, ministry, Reflections, religion, Thoughts on March 2, 2010 | 3 Comments »
I have a love-hate relationship with funerals.
Without Words
Posted in Grief, tagged Christianity, death, faith, God, Grief, hospital, life, religion, spirituality on January 5, 2010 | 4 Comments »
Nothing to say or do in the face of death
