Will you hold, them, even virtually, and give them a safe shoulder upon which to cry?
Will you be Jesus for the bereft?
Will you hold them as they weep,
and not turn away?
Will you stand watch while they sleep
and dream of yesterday
when what's broken had been whole,
when dreams were still alive,
when the dark night of the soul
was never to arrive?
Will you stay when they awaken
to a rising sun gone red,
that they may not feel forsaken,
that they may be fed
by the love in you, the love of Christ,
for which the Lamb was sacrificed?
Music from Linkin Park, with the lovely and haunting Iridescent.
Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.
Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.
Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.
Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.
so far, I don't know anyone who has lost someone to Covid, but recently a man lost his wife in church to some unusual illness. Sympathy expressed, but I can't go to be a listening ear.
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard not to be able to be there in person, Annette...we do what we can.
DeleteThank you Andrew. Love this.
ReplyDeleteThank YOU, Loretta, for your affirmation, and for being here.
Delete(((((Andrew)))))
ReplyDeleteBeautifully expressed!
Annie in Texas
((((((Annie!))))))
DeleteThank you so much!
I do know of two that succumbed to this disease. I know many more who succumbed to other diseases. Christ willingly succumbed to the cross, Good Friday, today. And His resurrection is ours! God bless you Andrew! Have a blessed Easter! Your words are so unusually beautiful and heart-felt, as usual.
ReplyDeleteMary, I'm so sorry for the losses...and truly, He did it for us, and He is Risen!
DeleteThank you so much for being here!
Your post reminds me of the days I had with my mother before she died. Some of the memory makes me cry, some memories makes me feel guilty, some memories makes me thankful she is out of pain and with the Lord, some memories are so good. I talk about her a lot, saying, oh my use to say this and that, or she cooked this way or taught us how to do this or that. My heart aches for those dying now for their families cannot be with them. In the tribe in Papau New Guinea our daughter and family worked in when death sets in the family put another set of clothes on the person. One older man they thought was already gone but he was only on the brink and as soon as they tried to put on his death clothes he begin to fight them. He was not a Christian so his fear was great. There is a marked difference for those that become believers about death. It's not that fear is not there, maybe more nervousness but fighting fear is gone. I could tell the day my mother stopped fighting death...she had been so restless before but about three days before she died,she rested. Like a child coming into this world, they struggle with the light and not being close to their mother, they cry, scream and kick. Then the mother holds them and all the comfort comes back and they rest. Same at death, the process gets reversed, leaving life into death, rest comes as we rest in Him and stop fighting death which has been defeated at the cross. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteWise Hearted, thank you so much for this clear, cogent and above all empathetic look at that which surrounds the dying process.
DeleteYour words are a bright ray of hope, and are themselves a blessing.
My niece is a nurse working twelve hour shifts with Covid patients. I pray for her as often as I think to do it. I feel her parents' worry. Strange days.
ReplyDeleteNice writing. I'll be alone for Easter. We decided to cancel family being together. I will spend part of that time reflecting. We're still here. Praise God! Blessings to all.
My dear Norma, prayers for your niece - and for you in these strange days.
DeleteI hope you had a wonderful Easter, even tho' it was a solitary experience.
Blessings back!
It's hard to comfort people and 'hold them' when we're supposed to remain socially distant--but we hold people up in prayer at 7 and 7, seven days a week--especially health care workers!
ReplyDeleteAnita, you're so right...and the health-care workers truly need every bit of prayer and support we can send their way.
DeleteAndrew, this is beautiful. Even though we may not be able to be present physically, we can stay in touch in other ways. And prayer is an essential thing as well. Thanks for the reminder to be present with those who grieve. Praying for you and Barb, friend
ReplyDeleteJeanne, thank you so much for your afirming and uplifting words, and especially for your prayers!
DeleteYou bring up such an important point and challenge, Andrew! We need to think outside of our own discouraging situation, to how we can help and encourage others. There are so many virtual ways to do that now too! And reaching out to encourage could be the very thing that God uses to encourage us! I'm glad you said this today! You've got my wheels turning, my friend! Praying for you and Barbara!
ReplyDeleteBeth, I think we are so very blessed to be living in 'today', when we really have the resources to be able to help, even though we can't be with someone in person.
DeleteThank you so much for being here!