Grieving With Hope

Photo by Philipp Torres on Unsplash

“There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

    a time to be born and a time to die,

    a time to plant and a time to uproot,

    a time to kill and a time to heal,

    a time to tear down and a time to build,

    a time to weep and a time to laugh,

    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

    a time to search and a time to give up,

    a time to keep and a time to throw away,

    a time to tear and a time to mend,

    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

    a time to love and a time to hate,

    a time for war and a time for peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). 

To everything there is a season. We are all well acquainted with this reality. We are reminded of it in the movement from winter to spring, in our childrens’ growth, and in our spiritual lives; change is all around us. In some cases, the changing of seasons is exciting and beautiful. In others, it is painful and hard. The very nature of change is that something old is being modified or altered into a new, different thing. Something old is passing and something new is coming. 

An inevitable component of this reality is the presence of grief.