Tears of mourning for a deceased loved one are necessary, but these tears should not be for the dead. They are to wash our souls of grief.
Dear one, please do not weep for me.
I'm safe in Jesus' arms.
I'm walking, talking with my Lord,
free now from this world's harm.
Someday I'll meet with you again—
when Christ comes back to earth "
to claim the souls that, through His blood,
He's granted His new birth.
'Til then we've said our last "goobye."
Don't shed your tears for me.
I'm always there, I have not gone.
I'm in your memory.
Paul says, in Philippians 2:21 and 23 "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.... to be with Christ is far better." We can shout these messages from the rooftop for all to hear. We can broadcast them on the media. But what we cannot do is persuade our hearts that there is anything positive in the death of a loved one. Death is death. It is the last enemy to be destroyed, according to Paul in I Corinthians 15:26. Tears are a necessary part of grieving. We should not be ashamed of them. If God had not wanted us to weep, He would not have equipped us with emotions. He would not have given us tear ducts. Even Jesus wept, John 11:35. I'm not sure, in His case, if He wept from sorrow over the loss of His friend, Lazarus, or over the unbelief of the people. I think it was a little of both. Nevertheless, I think that John included those two words, in the shortest verse of the Bible, to show God's saints all down through the ages that weeping is a God-given aid to wash away grief. And after our tears, let us remember these words of Helen Keller: "What we have enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us."
Stop and think. Sometimes don’t quotes from a friend or loved one pop into our head? They do mine. Many times I hear my mother’s voice prodding me on. Or I hear my mother-in-law’ sage advice, in her delightful British accent, saying, “What will be, will be, Deary.” We CANNOT lose our loved ones. They are forever in our memory. Their thoughts, their words, even a vision of their faces will forever be with us to guide us over tough places in our lives. God uses these memories as channels through which He can send His messages to our aching hearts. Although there will always be pain associated with the memory of our loss, let us thank God for the joy of our loved one’s presence while they were with us.
© Helen Dowd
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