By Judie Brown
In Isaiah we read:
He had no form or comeliness that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
Pope John Paul II identified this Old Testament scripture as a foreshadowing, an identification of the stages of the suffering of Christ. Yet when grief is personal, it is difficult to see past one’s own feelings to recognize the presence of Christ at our side, weeping with us, suffering with us, and standing at the ready to provide comfort.
I realized this on a very personal level when my beloved husband Paul suffered for some years before he passed on to his reward. He was never one to curse the darkness or wallow in self-pity. In fact, he was the source of humor, incredible smiles, and sage attitudes especially when he was very ill and unable to move without my help or the help of a nurse. And so when he was no longer physically with me and the grief was nearly overwhelming, I remembered something he said years ago. We love each other for always and forever; nothing can separate us from each other.
And now, more than three years later, I can tell you that his perspective was accurate and that even today he is here with me, though in spirit. These thoughts come as I read about the devastating attitudes among women who politicize abortion. There are women who tell the world they are proud of their abortions. These are people who have categorized pregnancy into the problem column rather than accepting the truth that babies die because abortions are obtained.
It is also the reason why more and more people who are suffering agony and facing death seek easy exits from life without a second thought or perhaps because their ideas about dying were never countered by suggestions that life is precious, even when it hurts.
This is the stage on which the actors who are committed to killing write the script for the lonely, the terrified, and others who for one reason or another turn to death to solve a pregnancy or end anguish at the end of life. It is why lawmakers fashion proposals that support deadly cocktails for the ill without specifying what exactly it is going to require to end one’s life or the life of another.
We have become a people seeking deadly solutions to the state of being human, of becoming mothers, or when confronting disease that will rob us of our lives.
It might be wise for such folks to consider these words of Pope Benedict XVI: “What does the Lord want of me? Of course, this is always a great adventure, but life can be successful only if we have the courage to be adventurous, trusting that the Lord will never leave me alone, that the Lord will go with me and help me.”
When we are experiencing joy, the Lord is near. When we are experiencing grief, He is near, but in a more substantive way because in sorrow we need His embrace, we need His assurance, and we need Him!
We feel sorrow for those who do not understand this basic truth of human existence. We ask the Lord to touch such people with His merciful reminder that there is never life without death and there is never joy without sorrow, but there is always, in every situation, God’s love and peace.
Our grief can turn to gladness when He is in our life. Only Jesus is enough.