We said good bye today to one of the iconic figures in our
large family. He was a Husband, father, grandfather, uncle, he was a friend. I
sat in church today and listened to his son speak soft and gentle words of a
man whom he adored. It was breath taking. Although I cried with pain; I was
also lit with joy.
We often forget to look past our pain of grief to see the
blessing of our faith. How great thou art that my uncle is no longer in pain
but rather rejoicing in dance for he is finally in heaven. The Lord has
promised each of us eternal life and today he was granted that. I smiled for
Uncle Duff today for he tastes the goodness of that promise.
Death is a difficult aspect of our lives; it is extremely
hard to understand, to take and to accept. It is a cruel irony of life. We love
and share our life with a person only to know that the eternal bond will meet
its end on earth. The pain of saying good bye is unjust and terribly difficult to make
sense of. It is crippling in that we question “why” amongst a wealth of emotion
and chaos that surrounds the event of losing a person we cherish and treasure. My faith is what I rely on as I know that our
souls will once again unite and be together for all eternity.
Death causes us to reflect upon our lives and that of the
ones around us. It is common to weep at funerals as not only are we mourning
the loss of the person who has died; we mourn for others and for ourselves. I
cried today because of the pain in their eyes and I cried for me. I was forced
like many others in that church to deal with the fact that one day…..that will be
one of my parents. It is human nature to share in the grief.
Death is a part of us, and what we do to deal with the
realty of one day dying ourselves we must remember how very important it is to
prepare ourselves to face our own fate. That is why this journey for me has
been so vital. How we live our lives will determine whether or not we will be,
not only reunited with the others who have gone before us, but to enjoy the
splendor of heaven.
There is no comfort for the grieving in knowing that Uncle
Duff is in heaven; not yet. When our loved ones die we only want to undo what
has happened to them… that is it. I wish with all my heart I could do that for
this incredible family. Comfort shall be felt with time and with support of
everyone in their life as we remind them of our faith. God is good…is all I
could tell them, or remind them of today. God has provided an after for him….for
all of us.
Obviously it was hard for me today as I love all of them so
very much and I wanted to grab the pain from within them and take it away, but
on a selfish note I was having a hard time with the idea of death….especially
right now. The pain in their voices and in their tears only served as a
reminder that I must fight just a little bit harder so that my own children do
not have to be in their shoes….at least not yet.
My heart is burdened with thoughts of this incredible family
and the grief that they are experiencing today…. I am kind of at a lost as to
what I can do for them. I am sure that we all feel this way. I also hope that
his death serves each of us a reminder that life MUST be lived, shared and
enjoyed for our love and memories are what keep us going until we meet again.
God Bless all the Dufaults tonight and may your pain be lessened knowing so
many of us are carrying this with you and for you.
~Christine~
No comments:
Post a Comment