Grief

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Sometimes the news comes quick. Sometimes the news comes slow. No matter how or when it comes, grief travels in the wake of the news. Grief is heavy, weighty, a burden, especially when it involves someone deeply loved. Grief is not meant to be carried alone. It’s too heavy and may last a while—and that’s ok. That’s what family and friends are for, to share the load. Jesus stood outside the tomb of his friend and wept but He did not weep alone. It was a deep, human moment. “ Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted ” (Matt 5:4). If anyone knows how we feel in grief, it’s Him. But His grief did not linger long, as at the mention of his name, Lazarus came forth. We are not meant to dwell in grief, but should leave room enough for it. Let it run its course. Like the song says, “ Every Storm Runs Out Of Rain .” Another song says, “ The storm We will dance as it breaks The storm It will give as it takes And all of our pain is washed away Don't cry or be afraid Some things...

What Changes?

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“You cry, 'I’m suffering severe pain!' Are you then relieved from feeling it, if you bear it in an unmanly way?”—Seneca. Moral Letters, 78.17

Physical training (aka "self inflicted pain") opens the door to emotional training--but who cares? Those who consistently seek to better themselves feel some kind of pain and look perhaps quite unglamorous while training, but who cares? We bring pain on ourselves. But who cares? Why complain?

What good comes from complaining? There's no relief in complaining. 

What changes when we complain? We can whine, cry, yell, scream, holler, break things, be cruel or short with someone--but what changes? We get make ourselves a mess, get hoarse, give ourselves (or someone else) a headache, have to clean up a mess, fix or replace whatever got broke, feel horrible for what we've done, humble ourselves, make apologies . . . beyond that, not much else changes. 


Silence is not easy but in silence one not only finds but shares strength. Suffering in silence may actually build someone up. One feature that makes a hero or role model attractive is that we watch them do hard things and not complain about it. They do hard things BECAUSE they are hard. 

Nobody likes to suffer, but what good is accomplished by spreading the news? Besides, someone could be experiencing something much worse than you and all your complaints merely give them something to laugh at. 

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