I just started a book by Michael Card called Sacred
Sorrow. It is still too early to say
exactly where he is going with this theme, but the first several pages are very
interesting.
Job, David, Jeremiah, and Jesus all spent time lamenting
their condition and finding God in the midst of this time of sorrow. I have already been struck by the next to the
last words of Jesus – “Father, why have you forsaken me?”
The incarnate Son of God was living at that moment in his
full humanity and feeling completely forsaken – forgotten about and ignored by
his Father. He seemed to be fully
embracing the pain and sorrow of his death and feeling the very human sense of
loss, abandonment, and fear that seems rather normal to us as humans.
Granted, our loss of a son almost 11 weeks ago pales in
comparison to hanging on a cross. Yet, I
find some comfort in knowing that Jesus lamented his predicament and felt that
emotional loss and agony. Somehow that
validates much of what I am feeling in relationship to losing Daniel. And, if Card is right (and he certainly has
much of the Biblical account to back him up as well as human history), then God
does seem to meet people uniquely in their sorrow and pain – when they are
feeling most vulnerable, most out of control, most at their “wit’s end.” Perhaps this is fertile time for connecting
with God since it is one of the only times when we mere humans can open
ourselves fully to God and accept his grace and presence in our lives.
I do not know for sure, since I have not experienced this
aspect of this grief process yet, but somehow meeting God in our sorrow makes
sense and seems to be a common theme in scripture. I need to keep reading Card and see where
this takes me.
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