The Gap Between Our Greatest Grief and Our Greatest Joy

My heart has often been gripped by one of the stories Luke tells from the life of Jesus. He tells of Jesus arriving in the town of Nain just as a funeral procession is making its way toward the tombs nearby. This was an especially tragic funeral, for the man who had died was “the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.” Tragedy had followed tragedy for this poor woman. She had already suffered the loss of …

Does Nick Send Me Signs?

It’s a question I have been asked many times since Nick went to heaven. It’s a question that has been asked by some who profess faith in Christ and some who do not, by some who believe in the God of the Bible and some who believe in more of an eastern notion of spirituality. It’s a question that is framed in many ways, but usually something like this: Does Nick send you signs? People most often wonder if Nick …

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Flowers Springing Up in the Rain

In the past couple of years I have learned more about cemeteries than I would ever have cared to know. I have learned about purchasing plots and commissioning monuments. I have learned about proper etiquette and how different cultures relate to their dearly departed in very different ways. I have learned that a grave offers a place to go to grieve and, as importantly, a place to leave grief behind for a time. One thing we learned quickly is that …

What the Canyon Echoed Back

He told me of a day he had awoken sick in his heart, sick in his soul. He didn’t know what to think, he didn’t know what to do, he didn’t know what to believe. After all those years of marriage, all those years of joy, all those years of living life together, his wife had gone to heaven and he had been left on earth. Though days and weeks had passed, still he was in the depths of despair. …

A Prayer for the Bereaved

Father in heaven, I acknowledge that you are the one who bestows good gifts and you are the one who recalls them again. It is by your hand that each of us is brought to life and by your hand that each of us is called into death. You are the one who gives and you are the one who takes away. And so I bless your name. Father, it has been your will to take away one that I …

As if God Had Ever Made an Atlantic Wide Enough…

As we go through times of suffering and sorrow, we inevitably come into contact with those who would seek to comfort us. Some offer true help and true hope while others, unfortunately, do not. In this short but sweet quote, Theodore Cuyler reflects on what we need most in our times of affliction. There are some of us who have known what it is to drink bitter draughts of affliction, and to have the four corners of our house smitten …