Читать книгу Grief - Jody Neufeld - Страница 7

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines ‘grief’ as “emotional distress caused by or as if by bereavement; mishap; disaster”.¹ ‘Bereaved’ is defined as “suffering the death of a loved one”. ² Now that I have the definitions of the words, does it make the situation any clearer or easier to journey through? It gives me a place to begin.

Terrible things happen in this world. Few seem to happen with a logical or “fair” cause and effect. Since September 11, 2001, most of us in the United States have realized what people in most nations of the world already knew: disaster comes unexpectedly and destroys the lives of people that we may personally judge as ‘good’ as well as ‘evil’.

In 1 Samuel 30, King David and his men come home from war to find their homes destroyed by fire and all their wives and children taken captive. So David and his men cried out loud until they were so tired they couldn't cry any more. (1 Samuel 30:4)

Jesus has just fed 5,000 people and was then told of John the Baptist’s death. When Jesus heard about it, he got in a boat and went by himself to a deserted place. (Matthew 14:13)

I believe that each loss is personal and the degree of grief or pain is personal and cannot be compared! Here is an example:

In September 2004 the Gulf coast of Florida was hit by Hurricane Ivan. In Pensacola where I was living, we lost over 50% of our trees! My home, a trailer, was not touched! Yes, that was a miracle! Six days after Hurricane Ivan roared through our city, my 17-year-old son, James, died from cancer. Many friends who came to the celebration of his life, were struggling to celebrate, not only because they felt the sharp pain of missing James, but they were dealing with the loss of their homes! At best they may have only had a tree in their garage but many lived near the coast, evacuated, and came back to find … nothing, or very little. They were experiencing grief. Was their grief any less because it was brick or trees vs. their child? Why would I put myself in the position to judge that? God, a good Father, just sees His children in pain. When my child is stood up on a date or loses a ballgame, I know that the loss will probably not change his/her entire life but I see them in pain and so I just want to comfort them. Our Father’s love is so BIG that it can meet the size of my grief-need that comes from my heart.