Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

 

As you know, when I walk, I share what I find along the way. What I find has covered a broad multitude of different things. Sometimes I find things that have been intentionally created, placed or shared. At other times, I find things that serendipitously appear organically. The fun of my trips through the neighborhood is the anticipation of what I might find there.

On this particular morning I was stopped by the image of something that was not there. Though the large tree that stood in this yard has been long gone, the yard still reveals what is missing. The grass has not taken over. The lawn hasn’t absorbed the loss. What is not there still looms large in this space.

Our hearts can feel this way at times. Sometimes all we can see is what is not there, instead of all that is. Some losses are long lasting indeed. We keep waiting for the grass to take over that empty spot, we wait for the loss to be absorbed by the passing years of our life. Yet it remains the thing we see, even though it is no longer there. My guess is that such moments remind us, as few others do, the depth of both love and loss, hope and despair, faith and doubt.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” That is our hope. One day comfort will come. We will still know what we have lost, no doubt, but we will be able to see more than our loss. We will see the gift that was and is no more, but also all that has come in the meantime.

Peace.