‘‘To every thing there is a season…A time to weep, and a time to laugh.’’ Ecclesiastes 3:1,
Sorrow comes to us in many forms. You can lose your job, or your home, or your health. But nothing hurts more than when you lose someone you love dearly. Waves of grief will come at you like the ocean throwing its waves up onto the beach. Whatever you do, don’t drown. Don’t stop there and allow yourself to be pulled under by the current. Allow yourself to feel the grief without tying it around your neck. Allow the weight of it to help you work through your thoughts, fears, and, if necessary, your tears. Grieving relieves the soul, like exhaling carbon dioxide relieves your body. But there comes a point at which you must get up and go on. The stages of grief you go through are shock, then denial, then bargaining, then sorrow, and finally acceptance. David said, ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff [of protection] they comfort me’ (Psalm 23:4). When you get through this valley, you will be able to look back with more gratitude and less grief. Instead of focusing on what you have lost, you will be thankful for what you have left. And don’t be afraid to indulge in those rare moments of laughter that come even in the face of heartbreak. Laughter medicates the soul and alleviates the tension of those times; it requires us to step outside our present pain and adjust our focus. This in itself is a healing balm. ‘A merry heart doeth good like a medicine’ (Proverbs 17:22).
