Choosing to Bless
Sitting at a Young Life club meeting at family camp last
weekend, I heard the following lyrics from a familiar song in a new way:
“You give and take away;
You give and take away.
My heart will choose to say,
Lord, blessed be your name.”
These lyrics are a paraphrase of a well-known verse from Job 1:
“Naked I came from my mother's womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
That moment at camp I realized that I have a choice whether I
will bless God in spite of the loss
of my son, or, curse him because of
the loss of Daniel. Indeed, every day I
can and must make a choice whether I will bless God or, conversely in my
natural bitterness, curse Him.
The online thesaurus for “bless” lists its synonyms as: sanctify, consecrate, approve, or exalt. An antonym for bless is desecrate.
Thus, my choice is to consecrate, approve, or exalt God, or
desecrate Him.
Bitterness over loosing Daniel comes naturally to me –
choosing to bless God is not easy when I am wrapped up in my own pain and sorrow. Yet, choosing to bless God specifically when
I am feeling the most sadness perhaps somehow redeems my sorrow and brings new
life and light into my experience of this darkness.
Stepping away from bitterness and choosing to bless and not
curse God may also be a prerequisite step to choosing to bless and not curse
the people in my life – my wife and kids, my friends, my colleagues at work,
and my neighbors.
God: give me the
grace that it takes for my heart to choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name.
September 5, 2009
Remembering
A few days ago we met about a dozen of my former colleagues
over at National Jewish to view the tree that they planted on that campus in
Daniel’s memory last fall.
As I greeted this group and made a few remarks, it struck me
that I feel very blessed when others remember our son with us. The act of remembering – especially when
others initiate it – somehow makes a grieving heart feel better.
Perhaps it feels good to us because it is an affirmation
that Daniel’s life was important, his death was tragic, and other people were
genuinely touched as well.
Perhaps it is simply good for us because it aligns with our
daily experience of remembering Daniel and the struggle we constantly
experience as we attempt to live with these memories that are so filled with
deep joy and pain. When others remember,
it seems to connect with some deep-seated longing in our hearts for others to
affirm our pain.
Somehow when others remember Daniel and share those memories
with us, it makes us feel better.
Likewise, when we need to remember him and others can pause to listen,
grace comes into our hearts at that moment.
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