Detour Through Grief

My start as a blogger was pretty tentative anyway—and the months since have been kind of hard to write about.

Right after Christmas, all three of us in our household (my husband and I and our adult son) came down with COVID. Our cases were very mild, for which we are deeply thankful, but it still took the entire month of January before energy really returned to our bodies.

And it has been a sad time.

Four of my friends have lost their husbands in the past six months—two suddenly, two after long journeys of suffering.

And the last of those four deaths was only two days ago, so feelings are raw.

All of these men were believers in Jesus, so we have the assurance that they have stepped into His arms and are experiencing unimaginable joy in His presence.

But those who are left behind are in pain, and there are times when desolation pushes hard against hope.

Many of us are having to dig deep for words to express what is going on in our hearts. Here’s what emerged for me.

I hope it speaks for other hearts as well.

Sorrow

When the first words we find

to describe this season of our lives

are words suffused with sadness—

loss

mourning

sorrow

grief

words with pain at their very heart

When tears, close to the surface,

soak our faces with weeping

When pain shreds our hearts,

saps our strength,

makes choosing joy beyond us

We take comfort

when reminded

that our Lord knows our pain,

but it is still pain, keen and sharp

But the Man of Sorrows

knows that keenness

so we cast it at His feet

and find Him faithful still.

                        –Rhonda Brown

Detour Through Grief

*My early poem is available in the archives of the Utmost Christian Writers poetry contest.

I have written many things about the world of poems and have published many of my own poems and stories here at Poet Monk Blogs

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