The incredulity of grief

2 Samuel 1:25-26 NLT

Oh, how the mighty heroes have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies dead on the hills. [26] How I weep for you, my brother Jonathan! Oh, how much I loved you! And your love for me was deep, deeper than the love of women!

When someone, so intertwined in our present everyday, is suddenly plucked up and planted in our past, it leaves us incredulous.

How can it be that I won't cook for them today, or give them a hug, or share some thought?

Our routine is radically interrupted by their absence.

That gaping chasm created by their death leaves us gasping for the air of reality.

I look at the photo of my boy who was here so vibrant and alive just over 2 weeks ago and must surrender him to my history - it's still so hard to grasp this savage truth.

One response is denial and that's part of grief too.

David gives a great example of coming to terms with reality.

He writes a lament and encourages others to sing it in the land.

It put me in mind of Diana's sudden death - Elton John's rendition of Candle in the Wind "Goodbye England's rose" - how it brought reality to the consciousness of the nation's incredulity - as we mourned her departure.

If you are mourning the loss of a beloved today and can hardly take it in, don't be shy about declaring your devotion to that precious one.

Say it loud, say it clear in your words and in your heart.

Say it as a prayer, a deep cry from the soul to our Lord Jesus who acquainted Himself with the very grief you are experiencing.

Isaiah 53:3-5 NLT

He was despised and rejected- a Man of Sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. [4] Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! [5] But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

Jesus, you know how I feel because You felt the deepest sorrow and grief. You understand and share. I know that through Your unfathomable Passion on the Cross I will find the deep healing to carry on.