About the foolishness of grief…
John 20:10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood
outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and
saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and
the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where
they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing
there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 "Woman," he said,
"why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was
the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where
you have put him, and I will get him." 16 Jesus said to her,
"Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, Rabboni!"
(which means Teacher). (NIV)
On the surface, grief and grieving does not appear to be foolish. When we
lose someone we grieve and feel sad. It is normal to grieve. It is good we are
connected enough to another person we do feel grief when we have lost him or
her. However, if we see our life as God sees our life, then grief appears to be
foolish. In our innermost heart, we all know there will come a day when the
tears of our grief will not flow any more. In our innermost heart, we all know
there will come a day when every grief will turn to joy. We grieve because we
cannot see far enough into the future. We grieve because we do not see reality
in all its dimensions. We are blind to the foolishness of grief because we do
not see the short time our grief and loss will last. We are blind to the
foolishness of our grief because we do not see the short time until the glorious
day when our grief will be no more. We are blind to the folly of our grief
because we cannot see eternity and our place in Heaven. In our grief, we can
gain our sight this instant and see the love of God pouring down over us. We can
gain our sight this instant and see Christ standing next to us as we grieve. We
can gain our sight this instant and see our home being made ready by our Lord.
