“Blessed are those who
mourn for they shall be comforted.” – Matthew 5:4
I like funerals. No, I don’t enjoy seeing people suffer grief
at the loss of a loved one. God created us to live and death is our enemy. But
loss and grief can be our friends if they bring us to face the reality of our
own mortality. Those who morn are uniquely positioned to be comforted if they
let grief turn their hearts to God. I love seeing this happen.
The world, in general, does everything possible to avoid the
whole subject of mourning. Most people live as if death were not the fate of us
all. Death is ignored. We fill our lives so full of activity that we have no
time to think about eternity. We run here and there after the latest thing, we
party and pretend to be happy – anything but allowing ourselves to think about
our true condition.
But I think Jesus was also speaking of mourning in the
broader sense of mourning over mankind’s condition. God created this world a
place of beauty and peace, and he declared it to be good, very good. Sin
entered the world through man’s disobedience and the world, all life, was
marred. Strife, abuse, war, death, sickness, hunger, and injustice replaced the
harmony and fullness of Eden. So much that was beautiful was lost. Do I care? Do
I see it? Do I mourn mankind’s loss?
Regularly I find that I am closing my eyes to the destruction
caused by sin all around me. I let my heart become hardened to the plight of
others. But blessing comes in being touched by the pain that others endure, and
reaching out to them in love. When we comfort others, when we reach out to a
neighbor, a friend, a stranger who is hurting, we ourselves are comforted. We
find a blessing.
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