I have been reading a book on grief and the one thing that has struck me today is the stage of loneliness and depression. It seems that everyone who goes through grief goes through this stage. It is when the person grieving can relate to Jesus hanging on the cross most of all.
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Jesus calls it out and cries it out. But is God listening? Jesus is feeling it in the depths of his soul, the pain of a great loss. The pain that no one can understand for each loss is unique. It is the darkest of days. But even on the darkest of days, the sun is out. We just can't see it.
Those who fly in airplanes on a dark cloudy day can see it when they get above the clouds. The person in grief cannot see the light. For the process of grief keeps it hidden. It is on those days that they need someone to whisper to them that the light is there. They need it to come from a trusted friend, someone that is close to them, someone who cares no matter what the person in grief says to them. They need to be the light for the grieving person until that person can see the light again on their own. Jesus rises from the dead and is that light.
May you be the light for someone that cannot see it.
May you be the presence of God to a grieving person who needs a friend.
