July 24th, 2021: Grief and Love

 


Today is my oldest daughter's birthday. She has grown up to be an incredibly gifted and caring daughter and wife. Being a father is an ongoing learning exercise for me. It is not about being perfect. It is about discovering the nature of God as my Father while realizing that I still have a lot to learn. By the way, just to be sure you understand the intent of my use of the word "Father" in referring to God, I don't mean that He is Male. That is the limitation of any language when trying to describe God.


One of the significant aspects of being a father is to have the freedom to grieve with your children. Although we try to protect our kids, they will get hurt. That is the reality of life. Sometimes we don't understand the pain that our children might have to go through. We have never experienced it before. I came across this plaque at a small family business cafe in my city, and I have been thinking about it quite a bit.


When we grieve for the loss of someone, we come to terms with the depth of our love for them. Sometimes there is no word to describe our inner emotion when we lost that person. It feels as if we lost "a piece of our heart" as it says in this plaque. We cannot repair it by ourselves. It is not something that we can replace. It is something we need to embrace and fully identify with it.


When we are willing to grieve over the loss of our innocence, we might discover the deeper meaning of godliness. We then realize that grieving is a common human experience. Most people I know are looking for something in their lives. Why is that? We have the feeling that something is missing in our lives, and we believe that it should be there. The absence of godliness has increased our sense of insecurity. We would feel a lot safer if you can grieve over it properly.


Psalm 22:24 - "For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help."


Psalm 34:18 - "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

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