My mum and I were talking about grief the other day. We were comparing, not our own experiences of what makes us cry, but how other people were handling our tears.
There are some people that almost insist that you fall to pieces and weep on every available shoulder. If you don’t cry they think you are bottling it all up.
There are others that think that you shouldn’t be weeping at all! They have this notion that tears are some kind of betrayal of trust in God. I am not quite sure what they are looking for, but sorrow seems to send out the wrong message.
My mother is sad. She doesn’t want to hear or speak encouragement. I suppose to put it bluntly, she wants to be miserable and enjoy her misery…for a while, at least.
I am also sad. I cry sometimes, but not for long. The minute to begin, there is this voice in my head that says, “Enough! Pull yourself together!” I suppose I am worried that my sorrow will become like a black hole that sucks me in.
I just want to find, I suppose, a right kind of sorrow and a right way to grieve. As I was thinking about it this morning, a phrase came to…”Cry all you have to, but leave room for joy.”
The Anatomy of a Tear Drop
If you could take a tear drop
Just one from all I’ve cried
Manipulate a scalpel and
Into its parts divide
How much is made of sorrow,
The kind that sheds no light,
A sadness that contains within
The darkness of the night?
How much, if just a little
Contains a spark of joy,
That rests upon a promise
That nothing can destroy?
God uses all that happens
To bring about my good
Reminds me there’s no place to stand
Where He has never stood
1 comment:
That's a beautiful poem Melanie. And thought provoking words. I guess there is no right or wrong way to grieve - it's such an individual thing since we are all so different. Including our backgrounds. It's difficult, I know. I still miss my mom. Love and hugs, Pat
Post a Comment