Uninvited Guest

Unfamiliar terrain.

Grief is not a terrain most of us visit often. It is certainly not a terrain we visit by choice. Stephen Colbert lost his father and two brothers when Colbert was ten years old. He said grief appeared like an uninvited guest and came and went as it chose.

Four of my dearest friends died recently. Colbert’s comment has proven to be true for me and also to be helpful. Rather than wrestle with grief and try to banish it, I have welcomed it as I would any guest. I assure the feeling it has come to a safe place. I invite it to lay up against my heart and to stay as long as it wants.

Jesus said “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4

I stand on that promise.

Here’s a comforting prayer to be said over and over—

A Veil Thin as Gossamer

George MacLeod 

Be thou, triune God, in the midst of us as we give thanks for those who have gone from the sight of earthly eyes. They, in thy nearer presence, still worship with us in the mystery of the one family in heaven and on earth…

If it be thy holy will, tell them how much we love them, and how we miss them, and how we long for the day when we shall meet with them again…

Strengthen us to go on in loving service of all thy children. Thus shall we have communion with thee, and, in thee, with our beloved ones. Thus shall we come to know within ourselves that there is no death and that only a veil divides, thin as gossamer.