loss

The community that I live in has been hit hard by loss these last few weeks.

From young to old, the community has lost member after member…to illness, to age, to needless violence.

The overall weight of loss and pain has been heavy.

It is hard to stand in the hurt.

It is difficult to watch the children in the community stand in the hurt.

It is painful to watch a community grieve and hurt and sink into sorrow together.

So much.

It all feels like so much.

It is hard in the midst of so much pain to make sense of so much loss.

While we want there to be reason to everything, the truth is, there isn’t. We want there to be order and meaning behind everything. It makes life easier to handle. But in the face of so much chaos we are faced with the reality that life happens, good and bad, and we must walk through it either way.

What brings me comfort in those moments is that I know God stands beside me. In sorrow, God cries with me. In loss, God weeps with me. In joy, God rejoices with me.

So, in this valley of loss and grief I know that God stands beside me, beside and in the midst of my community, and with all those who are suffering.

May God’s deep love, compassion, and peace surround us all.

Amen