April 20, 2023
– Dr. Brooke Goldner
Even when you seem lost in the emotional and spiritual maelstrom caused by the loss of someone you love, your life is precious — so precious you’ll never understand it until the next life. As much as you may want the world to stand still so you can catch your breath, it won’t. As the song says, “Stop the world — I want to get off.” However, we can’t because our responsibilities hover around us like mayflies and refuse to be ignored. There are children or elderly parents to care for. There are jobs to return to and projects to complete and meetings to attend… and you will often do all these things half-heartedly because half of your heart is broken.
In this lifetime, you’ll never realize all the good you did without knowing it. You’ll never realize the person you helped — probably another person in pain like yourself — until the day that Jesus pulls aside the curtain and shows you your life in explicit detail. Then, it will be revealed to you all the good you accomplished, perhaps inadvertently, while you were suffering.
How many times have you been at a wake or memorial service and seen countless people, who are unfamiliar to the family, come forward and pay tribute to the deceased, sharing stories about charitable acts and compassionate encouragement that no one else knew about. In those hidden moments, the burden of another suffering soul was lightened.
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Even in your suffering, you may be helping others, often without realizing it, sometimes just by showing up.