Death is “celebrated” different ways, by different people, in different cultures. I recently attended a visitation here in Tala. The woman’s husband had passed away due to cancer and Pauline and I went to say “pole” (po-lay…sorry). We walked into the compound to what seemed to me like a religious crusade (one reason is because of the loud speaker and I couldn’t understand anything that was being said). The women sat separately from the men, someone was singing with a microphone and a preacher was talking about death (also using a microphone). A bit different than US visitations but the one thing that remains the same are the tears of the bereaved.
I don’t know what it feels like to lose a spouse but I can cry with a fellow woman and wife over her loss. What do my tears say? That I care, I’m sorry and I’m trusting God to help her through this difficult time. I can offer no words that will lessen her grief but I do know that God also sees her tears and He knows her grief and suffering:
- The LORD knows the thoughts of man (Psalm)
- for he knows how we are formed (Psalm)
- God…knows the heart (Acts)
- he knows the secrets of the heart (Psalm)
I can’t promise rest, hope or joy to her but I can trust in the promises God laid before each of us:
- He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. (Isaiah)
- those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. (Isaiah)
- I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow. (Jeremiah)
Death gives each of us the opportunity to contemplate “what happens next?” because “What man can live and not see death?” (Psalm) but “Jesus said…, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John)
Do you believe this?