Transcends...

I heard a wise man speak on grief this morning...on allowing it come, to wash through however that looks...sorrow, sadness, depression, falling flat on your face...however it looks for you...on knowing that there will come a time when your mind quiets, your soul takes a breath and the realization comes that love transcends grief...that we carry a piece of them with us as we go through the rest of our own life, until we meet again.

Death is not final...oh there are many arguments on the 'after' part of death...afterlife, afterdeath.....whether we go gently into that good night or 'rage, rage against the dying of the light.'

Philippians 4:7 “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

This I believe with all my heart dear treasures...that the peace of God will envelop, will hold in comfort as we grieve and will do so until we are finally able to come up for air...until we feel we can draw a deep breath without it catching, once more...

Until we no longer see in shades of grey, of black, of white...the colours leached from vision return in spurts, drabs and drips....suddenly seeing the red of one rose amongst the bouquet brought, the oranges of the rising sun as we stand at the window wondering when we will feel halfway normal....oh the quickening of the heart, of the mind, the sputtering start of the spirit as we take in a colour for the first time in what feels forever.

It comes my friends...slowly the cloud that hangs low overhead blows away in the winds of time, in the hand clasping of a dear friend, in the act of being pulled in close by someone you hardly know but the spirit, the heart of the gesture brings you to your knees in thankfulness for being seen...

We will carry that grief, along with others that have come before or may come in the future...we carry them in a sacred place inside, a place we visit in quiet moments, or in the smell of something familiar to that lost loved one...a song they loved, a view you shared, in the pictures scattered round your home that we forget until one day we catch ourselves just looking and feeling every bit of grief in a single beat of the heart....

This grief dear hearts is not relegated only to the death of a lost love...it is for the grief of loss in a relationship you hoped for, dreamed for reconnection....for the loss of a dream in a person who based that dream on a fallacy, on a fabrication only to draw you in...

Grief comes in many forms does it not my friends? So many...it is a wonder our beating heart can house so very much...and yet that heart also has the capacity for new joy, for new beginnings...hope springs eternal has never been clearer than in the human race....

How many times have you picked yourself up off the floor with hope, with a steadfast belief in the God who created you so wonderfully, so miraculously that you may withstand the trials that life brings....

He created a spirit of hope within your spirit that though beaten down will spring forth again, and again and again...He created a toughness, a willingness of spirit to step through tribulation and toil and out the other side....joy does come in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening...it fills the heart and washes it clean of despair, of despondency and gives hope, not just for the future, oh no nothing so lofty as that in the beginning...it gives hope for the present, for the moment you stand in...

You will wake and wonder where the angst has gone, where it has flown to...on the wings of angels, on the constant ebb and flow of love that covers a multitude of sins...a love that never falters, ingrained deep deep within our spirits....as the tide recedes it takes with it the most burgeoning of griefs and washes in grace, washes in comfort and love.

Don't give up dear lost ones...dear ones drowning in grief, fight not the tide of pain and infinite tears...let it come, let it wash over and through and out...you are held in the palm of a mighty Hand, safe...loved...secure in the knowledge you will not drown the grief will run its course and will ebb and flow slower, slower still until you are once again standing upright holding the love of your lost one in that special sacred place reserved for just such as this.

Grief is love with nowhere to go....

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” ― Jamie Anderson

Love transcends....it holds us in place, it keeps us upright when what we'd like to do is just keel over from the pain...it seeps in through cracks until we are once again whole, once again at peace...Love saves (Maya Angelou) it truly does....

Hate steals, it robs the soul of peace and revels in chaos, in perpetuating pain and sorrow...

Hate seeks to destroy, seeks mayhem, seeks death of the spirit....

Do not give in to bitterness, to hate dear hearts....only death lies down that path....look and see the path ahead, love to the right and hate to the left....

The right full of green, of every colour of the rainbow, lit with the light of love and hope...

The left empty of life...drained of every colour of the rainbow, deep shadows creating pitfalls and traps...darkness filling the soul with despair, with desperation and despondency....

Hate will fuel the feet for a time, it will kick you along until one day you wake with a start and see how very far you've travelled from the light and fear will flood your soul, your mind... anxiety threatens to overwhelm....

Once again love saves....with a thought, with a choice, though we have travelled far, we may jump from the path of perdition to the path of light, of love, of hope and peace, in a heartbeat...in a nanosecond enfolded in arms of love and forgiveness....in arms of grace and mercy, a never ending supply...never ending....a place of safety awaits you, awaits your choice dear friends....

So...walk tall, stand firm in your place in this world, in the knowledge of your worth and the loving kindness you have to give, to live in....

May God richly bless you with life, with hope, with a peace that passes all human understanding...carry a big stick dear treasures, speak your truth and watch your world come together once more.