Inside me
Loss can be a death, a divorce, a job that ended, a friendship that went quiet. It hurts for real. Blessed are those who mourn — not because grief is nice, but because comfort is promised. The Lord is near the broken-hearted. Tears are not silly. You may grieve. You may also hope that this is not the last word.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
What it means
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Grief is not a failure of faith. Comfort is a promise.
How you can live it
If you are grieving: you may cry. Tell someone. Comfort often arrives through people.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
What it means
When your heart feels broken and you are heavy inside, he is not farther away — he is closer. Nearness is not a reward for the strong and cheerful. It comes just when you cannot pretend.
How you can live it
When you are sad: you do not have to cheer up first. Say how it is. He is already near.
He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”
What it means
The tears are not silly — God himself will wipe them away. One day there will be nothing left to grieve. Death will be gone, for good.
How you can live it
When grief is large: there is a day when the tears are wiped. Until then they may be there, and you may be comforted.
A prayer
Lord, what is gone hurts. Stay with me in the grief, and hold on to what is still here. Amen.