| By Esther C. Baird, as written for the Silver Bay Spiritual Life Center, Silver Bay, NY. To subscribe to the mailing please email: pastoralrespite@silverbay.org |
| Last spring, our family dog passed away while lying on our dock overlooking Lake George. Blue was a dog who loved the lake and, though we live in Boston for most of the year, summers spent on boats, docks and in the water were Blue’s favorite times. So when he died where he was happiest, it gave us a small degree of comfort, even though we were mourning his loss. Up on Hague mountain, just behind the general store and public beach, is a cemetery where my grandparents, great aunts and uncles are buried. Again, losing them over the years has never been easy or OK (because death is never OK, nor what we were originally designed for) but knowing they are buried in a place they loved, knowing we share a belief that this life is not the end, gives a degree of comfort It’s why so many people choose to have their memorial services at Silver Bay, or why the respite programs at Silver Bay are so meaningful. Whether for cancer, or time away from ministry, or space to breathe after serving in the military. There is a lot about this life and this world that causes us to grieve, a lot that is hard and sad – and rightfully so. Cancer is never good, burnout and trauma are not things we ever wish for, and yet there can be comfort and peace even in those times of mourning. This comfort can point us to a larger truth about grieving, loss, and this life we live. The third Beatitude hints at this sort of grief and comfort, only, like the first one about the poor in spirit, Jesus takes this opportunity to expand the definition and to point to a bigger sort of grief with a bigger message of comfort. The second Beatitude says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Last month we talked about the poor in spirit being not just about poverty (though Jesus cares about the poor in a very tangible way and calls us to do the same) but also about the reality that we can not help ourselves out of the mess we’ve made in this world. There is a total inability for us to enter into this Kingdom of Heaven without help or rescue from outside ourselves – – rescue from the King of the Kingdom. And while Jesus gives us that invitation, we still mourn and grieve the brokenness in our world, our governments, our churches, our families and of course, in our hearts. It’s a sad state of affairs we find ourselves in… if that is all there is to this life. But the amazing truth of the Beatitudes is that there is so much more! There is both more to this life now, and there is promise for the life to come. The comfort that Jesus describes is the setting to right all that is wrong. It’s the peace that we long for as the world around us is full of chaos and violence. It’s the wholeness we were created to experience despite living in brokenness. It’s the certainty that there is something more. That something more is active presence of the King of the Kingdom with us even now, it’s membership into the Kingdom based on the King, not on our ability to get there. And it’s the Spirit of God, the Spirit of this Kingdom with us at all times. Do you know what the Holy Spirit is sometimes called in the Bible? The Comforter. With us, always. While we are sick? Yes, always. While our families are splintered? Yes, always. While we still struggle with past or present trauma? Yes, always. While we can’t read the news each morning without hearing of more tragedy and pain? Yes, always and forever if we follow the King. This Kingdom of Heaven is exactly for people like us. People who are struggling, sick, sad and broken. And here’s the important part, it’s for people who are not OK with the status quo, people who are grieved, sometimes angered, by how things are both in our world, and in our hearts. In fact Jesus says in the gospel of John 16, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have overcome the world.” Are you grieving today? Do you mourn what should be but isn’t? Do you feel sorrow about a specific situation, or the overall challenges that this life holds? Let the King of the Kingdom of Heaven comfort you. Let him send the Comforter, the very Spirit of God, to come along side you and to guide you through this life. There is comfort. There is hope. And Jesus calls us blessed if we follow him both in our mourning, and ultimately into his promised joy. -Esther Baird, esther.baird@gmail.com |
| Extra Reading: If you want to read more, I’d encourage you to read John chapters 14-16. Any translation will do, though I often find the New Living Translation to be an easy one to follow (you can use biblegateway.com to get quick free access to different translations). They are three chapters in what is called the ‘Farewell Discourse’ which is fully contained in chapters 13-17. They are Jesus’ last thoughts and words to his disciples before he is taken away to be crucified (but later resurrected!!) and contain instructions of encouragement and hope and… certainly comfort. |