Our Love for Those Gone Before Us
We have just celebrated All Souls and All Saints Day in the Catholic Church.
It reminded me of the love I have for my past relatives and friends who have died.
Some have gone at such a young age while others had many good years on the earth. Some died from trauma, diseases, cancer, while others just old age. But God called each and every one home at their designated time.
I read where Andrew Garfield, the Spider-Man actor, talked about his grieving when his Mum died and even after many years felt the grief intently. What he shared was simple but beautiful.
“This is all of the unexpressed love. The grief that will remain with us until we pass because we never get enough time with each other, no matter if someone lives to 60 or 15 or 99.
I hope this grief stays with me because it’s all of the unexpressed love that I didn’t get to tell her, and I told her every day, she was the best of us.”
“…. This ticking clock we all have, that we all know, somewhere deep down in life is sacred, life is short and we better just be here as much as possible for each other, holding on to each other.”
It caused me to think of God the Father’s love for us. Forever telling us, every day, that He loves us. Everyday trying to draw us to Himself, to care for us. And one day in heaven there will be no more pain, no more tears or sorrow for the Lord is and was victorious and overcame death.
In Isaiah it says:
he will swallow up death forever.
Isaiah 25:8-9 NRSV
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the Lord for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
God tells us that He will swallow up all our sorrows.
Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 NRSV
In Corinthians it tells us that death has no more sting for Jesus has given us eternal life. What a special gift to each of us.
I see grief in a different light now. It is part of the way I express my love for that person, and one day hopefully we meet again seated in heavenly places with the Lord.
May these jottings from my journal inspire you to believe in and fall in love with Christ- the hope of the world, as stated in Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord!’
Love
Rosemary
Every week groups of ladies meet together to chat about the things I raise in my weekly blog post and to chat about life in general. We call these ‘Heart Connect’ groups.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Who are the loved ones in your life that you cherish? How did they affect who you are today?
When you think of God the Father’s love for you how does that make you feel?
Knowing that Jesus has victory over death, does that change the way you live?