light-in-a-pandemic

BONUS-DAILY BREAD SHARE OF THE DAY

Grief, God, and Gratitude

We find ourselves living in a time of significant grief. In addition to our personal challenges and losses, we face a historic pandemic, political strife, rekindled racial tensions, and economic uncertainty.

This is a season of deep grief, a grief that at times feels unyielding. However, we must also find a way to allow it to become a time of sincere gratitude. If we are to negotiate the grips of pain that lead to despair, our grief must learn to surrender to gratitude. We will never be completely finished with loss, but if there is to be healing and hope or the possibility of “shattered expectations” being redeemed, we must find, amid the pain, things for which we can say “thank you.”

The Bible, though a book of hope, is filled with stories of loss and grief. One example is the death of Lazarus. In this story, Jesus loses a good friend, whom He loves. And even though Jesus knows this story doesn’t end in death, that Lazarus will live again, He grieves. John 11:32–33 (NRSV) reads,

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Lt Col Charlie Brown SSG Michael Noll Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Cpl Vic Burk MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. SGT Charlie Lee PO2 Marco Monsalve SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth ] SSG William Jones Sgt (Join to see) SrA John Monette SFC Bernard Walko SPC Michael Terrell SMSgt Anil Heendeniya CPL Douglas Chrysler A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney GySgt Jack Wallace CDR Andrew McMenamin, PhD SGT Mark Anderson