Darkness Descending

Happiness is fleeting, Sorrow is inevitable.

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Cut to black - let mournful yet triumphant music defy the darkness - roll the credits.

That would be standard script direction for any movie of tragic loss. It's become our model for the drama of personal loss. It's useless when the loss is your own. It is utterly useless when death takes away someone you love.

Drama can only satisfy the living.

When death takes someone you love, something in you dies as well. It cannot be made to live again. The jagged hole in your heart will be hidden behind a scar. It will not heal.

The scar is a permanent reminder that, what was, will never be again.

Suffering is the only guarantee in this World. Happiness is fleeting, Sorrow is inevitable. Let your tears honor those you've lost. Treasure their memory. Appreciate the blessings that remain. Let the wisdom of the prophet Micah guide you, "Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God".

Micah's words aren’t intended to console grief. His words are intended to point the way beyond grief. Do the best you can with what you can do.

Let it go. You're not in charge.

There's a line in an old song that offers hope: "The darkest hour is just before dawn?. That's true of night and sunrise. It's not so reliable for life's other dark times.

I wish it were.

Bromides such as, "It's probably for the best", ""For every door closed, another will open", "You have to get on with your life", and so many more, do more harm than good.

That kind of talk insults grievous loss with cavalier cliché. People who are hurt should be allowed to bleed without Nancy-nurses trying to clean-up the mess.

When darkness descends, lighting a candle won't be much help. Nothing will be.

The death of someone you love cannot be fixed. It can only be endured.

Have faith. Heaven awaits.

By K. L. Shipley

Website: https://www.eclecticessays.com