Loss

Mary’s Monday Musings to Quilt Encouragement

Losses

An astonishingly large number of people in Florida have suffered at least some measure of loss all the way from destroyed tokens of treasured memories to the falling of a beautiful tree to the loss of entire homes and the devastation of death. Something about the suddenness, the inability to prevent the losses, the magnitude of the destruction, the immense numbers of people affected make the effects of a hurricane seem extra dreadful even to those not directly involved. But life on this earth is full of loss from the cradle to the grave. Ranging from small regrets over broken objects all the way to the immense pain of alienated friends to great grief because of loss from death.

 

What makes the difference between those who make it through the assorted heart aches of life on this earth and those who crumble in the face of loss?  We can find ourselves in either category from one time to another.  I know I don’t always face loss well, but who gets to define what well is? God alone knows what previous experiences, what emotional scars, what physical deprivations go into the composition of our reactions to any kind of disaster here on this earth. We aren’t in a position to evaluate the why behind different individual’s responses to loss. Our position is to love them and stand with them where they are as well as pray for them as they process whatever the event and loss they experience. God, show us how to respond in ways which comfort people experiencing loss. Show us how to be a source of encouragement.