This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
I was sitting in a darkened sanctuary two Sundays ago with a few of our youth. Their friend Dakota had just died. Through tears, one asked, “Why? Why would God do this?”
“God didn’t do this,” I replied. “God didn’t look down from the sky tonight and say, ‘Her, I want her.’ We just live in bodies that aren’t made to last, and sometimes bad things happen. That’s why God gave us a better life, an eternal life, to come.”
I don’t know if the youth bought it or not. [Read more…]
Dr. Stephen J. Forman wrote a great column in the January 6 edition of the Wall Street Journal column. It was entitled, “No, You Don’t Need ‘Closure’.”
“The experience of loss after a lingering illness like cancer, though more expected, is just as deeply felt,” he wrote.
Yes, I’ve heard a lot about closure, in funeral homes, living rooms, and my office.
Dr. Forman continues, “As time passes, we often hear how important it is to gain closure—a way of tidying up to help us move on with our own lives. The reality is that closure is a myth. My personal and professional experience with those who have lost friends and family, including children, has taught me that going on with life is not the same as gaining closure. The wound of loss is a part of each person’s life forever.”
Well said, Dr. Forman. And I’d like to respond. [Read more…]
