Death can come at anytime. It doesn't care if you have a
bright future planned ahead of you and it doesn't care about the
loved ones left behind who have to deal with the loss somehow. This past
weekend someone I knew passed away. I didn't know him very well, but I love
someone who loved him deeply. That someone is hurting a lot right now and it
really pains me to have to sit on the sidelines helpless, so this blog post is
dedicated to the both of them- one who is deceased and one who has to continue
living.
When someone passes
away, there is a tendency to go back through our memories of them in the past
and feel guilty for all the times we treated them badly or talked meanly about
them. I know this because I too am going through this now. What if we had
treated them just a little nicer? What if we had hung out with them when they
asked us too? What if we had answered that last text message? Would that have
changed anything? These questions will never be answered because the past can
never become the future. All that is left to do is pray for comfort and
hopefully change the way we treat people in the years to come. There is no use
to attempting to change the past and letting go of guilt is the first step. I
am confident that the one who is in heaven now would not want the ones still on
Earth to torture ourselves over small issues.
At a time like this
the only words I could say to my friend is "I'm here for you and I love
you" and yet these words feel inadequate for everything she is going
through. It can be so hard to understand why bad things happen to those you
love, especially for believers. Why did God let this happen? The Bible says
"For everything there is a season,
and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time
to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted “God has a plan for
every single person in this world and it is a plan that he created when we were
born. It may not be the plan we had in mind or wanted, but in the end God will
show us the way and provide comfort. I just want to say this
last statement to my friend: he is in heaven now and resting peacefully with
God. You are amongst so many people who love and care for you. We will be your strength during this difficult time. I promise.
Love, Kathleen
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who
comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who
are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted
by God." – 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4
