The reality of death is not just hard, it also brings a type of violence to the soul. We were created for eternal life, which makes it inconceivable to fully entertain the possibility of our bonds of love ending, as love never fails. As such, there’s a sense in which death severs our very soul. There’s a part of us that holds on to our eternal bond of love, while another part of us grapples with the reality of this no longer being an embodied experience at present.
Perhaps this is why it’s said we never “get over” the death of a loved one. To do so would be to deny the eternal nature of our souls. And maybe this is why we also welcome the grief, though it is painful. The grief reminds us this is not how it should be.
All the same, we must learn to accept these dual realities – made for eternity while also contending with the moments of separation this life brings. But this duality is also what gives us hope.
We rightly grieve when we can no longer hug our loved ones in this life. And yet we remember our God is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; he’s the God of the living, not the dead. And this remains true for our loved ones as well. And so we grieve with a confident expectation that they’re still living and we will see each other again.
Without this hope our grief becomes intolerable and we’re more prone to despair and resignation as we no longer know what to do with our broken heart.
In the end, you’re not crazy to struggle with the injustice of death. We were created for eternity. Live in hope – knowing this present separation from our loved ones will one day be healed.
Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
