Sunday, July 28, 2013
Yesterday at the Cemetery
Friday, July 19, 2013
Aware of the Loss...Grateful for the Outcome
Jerry Sitser is a professor of theology who, a number of
years ago, was involved in a car crash in which his mother, his wife and one of
his daughters were all killed. Sittser
has written about his grief journey on a number of occasions, including in his
most recent book, “A Grace Revealed.” In
it, he reflects on the absence of his daughter and its impact on him and his
family.
He writes, “Her presence would affect the entire dynamic of
the home, no doubt for the good. Then
again, her absence has done that too. It
could have turned out tragically, and I could be writing words of lament right
now instead of words of gratitude. But
it did not turn out tragically, not in the long run anyway, though event itself
was, and still is, tragic. We feel
sorrow, to be sure; but it is a sweet sorrow.
We are aware of the loss but grateful for the outcome. It is a tension we have learned to embrace.” Sittser, A Grace Revealed, 240-241.
Next week, our family will honor Micah on the four year
anniversary of his death. Like Sittser,
I have seen numerous blessings arise from Micah’s absence. To be sure, we’d take him back in a
heartbeat. I would not go so far as to
say that I am “grateful for the outcome,” as Sittser writes. I am, however, grateful for how the depths of
great grief in my life have removed some of the deeply-rooted self-dependence in
my life and required greater dependence on God.
This, in turn, has led me to consider how other, smaller and seemingly
less significant trials might be part of God’s plan for creating greater
dependence upon God, in my life and my family’s life. If Joseph told his brothers, “What you
intended for evil, God intended for good,” can we not trust that all of our
trials are similarly for our own good? I hope that you, too, will consider the
power of God to use trials to accomplish His purposes in your life.
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