I am not feeling quite so unbalanced. I spent a 12 hour day at the hospital. Today I was the chaplain. I ended up with 10 crisis calls and of those 4 deaths. Death is inevitable for everyone, but it still hurts like hell and well...sucks. What clicked for me today and yesterday (worked 2 deaths yesterday that I felt like I was talking to myself) is that no matter how much I believe the Heidleberg Catechism or Romans 8, death is still painful.
The sense of loss and grief speaks to our humanity. The realization that we are finite, even when we trust in the promise of eternal life. Henry Van Dyck wrote about death as a ship. As the ship sails from the shore and those on this side of death watch until the sail dips below the horizon, we morn the loss of a loved one. But on the other shore, there is Christ, standing with arms open saying "There she is!!"
Once again, this is about finding the tension between what seems to me initially as opposites.
But no matter...
DEATH STILL SUCKS!!
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3 comments:
nothing we say, believe, do, or see can make death suck any less. all we can do is shrug our shoulders and say, 'at least we have hope.'
too true!
I love that metaphor sailing to the other shore), Karen. I was wondering if you knew where I could source the entire text from Van Dyck? I lost both of my parents (http://www.jilks.com/Joan: May, 2006; htt://www.jilks.com/Ray: Feb., 2007) and found such metaphors comforting. I since wrote a book (currently at the publisher's to see if it is worth publishing!) http://www.jilks.com/BookProposal.html journalling helps, too. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross' works are quite helpful, too.
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