A Basket Full of Grief

Last Thursday felt heavy. In a meeting of leaders in my faith group, when we had a time of checking in to see what we might lift in prayer for each other, I spoke of how I felt like I am holding a big basket full of grief for so many people I know who have experienced loss or uncertainty in this time. 

• A friend whose husband died suddenly over the weekend. 
• A woman whose father passed recently and whose mother is in another state, alone during this time, and the agony my friend is experiencing because of not being able to go to her mother. 
• A former student who had to exercise her medical power of attorney and make end-of-life decisions for her father over the past couple of days, leading to her father dying peacefully today while the nurses helped her FaceTime with him through the process. 
• A friend of a friend who has made the transformative decision to leave an abusive situation, and all the challenges that go along with that brave act. 
• A co-worker who is struggling to engage in distance learning with her students and, at the same time, help her own children engage in distance learning. 
• A friend whose employment situation is in jeopardy. 
• A doctor who puts her life in danger to go to work and care for patients in the Emergency Department at her hospital. 

So. Much. Weight.

For insight into what to do with this basket, I looked in the book of Isaiah. In the 41st chapter, the writer discusses difficult situations and then speaks to the concept of trust, saying that God says to us “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you.” 

The writer does not say that God will keep hard things from happening but rather, God will be with us and hold us during the difficulties.

Sometimes those who grieve feel God holding them through words of comfort. Sometimes it is through the physical touch of a hug. Sometimes it is through simple acts of kindness, like when my own father brought me a Jamba Juice every morning for five weeks when I found it hard to eat after the sudden death of my husband two years ago. Sometimes it is when a friend sees the need and launches a fundraiser to provide the money that will help with a difficult transition. Sometimes it is a trail run in the woods. Sometimes it is when a memory brings warmth and a smile.

So I am sharing this basket and all that is within it with God, and asking for strength and help, for me and for all of us in this time. 

Hard things happen. I have found that God is always there, to bring strength and to hold us. And to share the weight.