I’m not interested in your pain having purpose, my Friend, only in the space to grieve what has been done to you. Let no one call these harrowing days a hallowing. The broken flesh is not a fruit to harvest. The tortured earth is not a fortune to reap. The spilled perfume is not a baptism to hoard. These days are not wedding wines but bitter herbs, and — oh, my Friend — long after your pain takes its last breath, the acridity will linger in my mouth. No matter how often your pain recurs, it will never be a ritual. No matter how systemically your abuse is observed, it will never be a rite. Heartbreak is not your sanctification or mine; it is only heartbreak. The torn curtain is only a torn curtain, not a mantle to parade. And when someday, my Friend, your anguished days are bandaged and dressed in glory, it will be only glory — not purpose. Horrors have no purpose beyond their own selfishness. You are blessed and wondrous with no obligation to justify what should not be, what should never have been. Leave the excuses to argue amongst themselves. Curl up in this hollow, away from the storm, and I will meet you there to grieve and wait until the torment passes.
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Poignant Rachel. We never know when reading someone else’s words what situation is “creating” the expression. What I appreciate about this offering is the expression of “wanting and desiring “ to BE in that place of grief or suffering with a loved one. I can’t imagine being told “Your suffering is for a purpose.” Such statements seem to ignore or cast aside human grief; the process of grieving . When we can each “share the space” with a stranger or loved one, we are sharing God’s love.
As for Easter, even though I know what happened after Christ’s crucifixion, I Often feel tears and sadness during Holy days leading up to Easter Sunday.
So appreciate your thoughts!
So appreciate your thoughts
Have a blessed Holy Week, Ann!
Thank you. Heartbreak is exactly that and no more. Thank you for affirming that.