The Importance of Being There
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.—2 John 1:12 (NIV)
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.—Matthew 5:4 (NIV)
Although Larry, my beloved husband, had died more than six months before, I’d still not shed a single tear. Why? I don’t know; maybe I reasoned crying would confirm what I couldn’t accept: He’s not coming back! I kept to myself, stoically answering friends’ “How are you doing?” and “How can I help?” with a curt reply: “Thanks, but I’m okay . . .”
Then, one day, on an errand to a local drugstore, an unknown-to-me clerk approached and said, “We’re giving
samples of our new line of specialty candies. What kind would you like?” Without thinking, I lightly answered: “A chocolate-covered cherry with a stem, please.” She donned rubber gloves, placed a picture-perfect specimen into a crinkly paper cup and handed me the treasure.
(What that clerk did not know—nor anyone, other than my husband and me—was that whenever my husband gave me “something really special,” it was a chocolate-covered cherry with a stem.)
Suddenly, my eyes flowed like Niagara Falls! She’d said nothing amiss, yet must have realized that whatever trigger that innocent piece of candy represented, sympathetic, comforting arms were needed. She drew me aside, saying, “It’s okay to cry.” My long-held-back-tears finally cut loose.
Thank you, Lord, for helping me realize it’s okay for me to cry, because you sympathize and understand deep sorrow.
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.—2 John 1:12 (NIV)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.—2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (NIV)
The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.—Proverbs 19:8 (NIV)