Eternity is written into our souls. And this makes death not only disruptive, but also experienced as a type of injustice. On some deep level we know this is not how it should be. Grief calls for us to accept this injustice for now, while living with the hope that no good thing is ultimately lost.
Of course, there are many times in which death is welcome and seems just and right for the moment, perhaps after a long season of suffering and pain. But, even here, the desire is more for our loved one to be freed from their current agony and not necessarily separated from them. We want peace for them even when this means we must sacrifice our time with them in this life. And on some level we still sense the injustice of death because we cannot have both – a life free from tears and sorrows while also being intimately connected with all those we love.
Whether death comes for the young or the old, it’s traumatic to the soul to break our continuity with them and try to move forward in life without them. They’re not here for the holidays, graduations, or family trips. And we don’t get to see them grow or to ask for their insights on the latest current events. We can accept the reality of their death, but we must still deal with the lingering cost of this injustice. This is not how it should be.
This is why our grief must remain deeply connected with hope; we risk falling into resignation and despair otherwise. While many things in this life are not as they should be and we must daily contend with many injustices, the hope we have in Christ reminds us that God’s story is not over yet.
The time is coming in which God will make all things new – restoring every lost moment, every laugh, and every embrace. Nothing good is ever truly gone; it will be redeemed and made right in his endless peace.
In the end, endure with hope death’s current injustice. And remember death doesn’t get the final word in God’s story. In the new heaven and earth, every good thing lost now will be restored.
