grief ...

To feel is to be alive. To be depressed is only to exist. Grief is always associated with loss, and loss is always associated with death in some form. The physical death of a loved one symbolizes, at a certain level, all that was or that could have been that is no longer. But there are other kinds of deaths. There is the death of dreams—of ideals to which we have clung, but which we must let go. This includes our longing for the parenting we needed, but didn't get (and fruitlessly seek out in other relationships, but cannot have because others are not our parents). Our aspirations to be model parents ourselves, and failures because of our own wounds. The marriage we longed to have but couldn't because of our own humanity and the humanity of our spouse.   
There is no life without death, and the accompanying grief that is natural to the experience of death in all its forms. But there is no death apart from the possibility of new life and transformation. Depression is the result when we identify with the pain in our lives as the whole truth, rather than as a part of the truth. We cannot open our selves to life in all its fullness and avoid the pain of death and grief.
The human experience of the apparent abandonment of God and the grief and even despair that are a part of that experience are very real for many people. Finding the courage to accept loss and death, and to enter into the grief they bring, is a sacramental act that allows us to participate in the deeper truth that, although evil and death are real, they are not ultimate. Rather they are part of a larger Truth that does not wipe away their consequences, but transforms them and brings out of them a new creation.

My dear dad is a Bible teacher/mentor to a class in Rowlett, TX. This week a member has passed away and it's been hard on  him and others.  We grieve in different ways, it's normal and natural and IT'S DIFFICULT. My memory verse this week is Rev. 7:17 "The Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd; and He will guide them to springs of living water. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."  I have found such comfort in this verse! Tears ... we cry them for all kinds of reasons ~ and yet God promises to wipe them away! Life is hard ... I write this knowing my dad will never read this .. but as a way for me to process what to say to him, maybe there are no words just to say "dad, thank you for doing what you do!" grief ... everyone experiences it ~ I can't imagine go through grief without Christ.