In The midst of grief
Emotions are like friends if you’re not hospitable when they come around then they’ll stop coming around.
The water analogy
We start out in deep water feeling like we’re drowning.
The water is rough and the storm is large and scary.
The wind blows fierce. We see people on the shore.
People want to help us but they can’t be in the storm with us.
After awhile the winds die down and the waters lessen.
Eventually there are calms that come and go.
Pretty soon we can touch the ground and we stand up.
We will Always stay up to our knees in the water.
We don’t ever go back on the shore again.
The good news is the tsunamis really don’t come any more.
Other than we may get a sneaker wave come up behind us, catch us by surprise and knock us over (that’s why they are called sneaker waves)
Sometimes splashes of water will come up and splash us in the face.
We see others on the shore. And its ok they are there and I am still in water.
Because I can stand up.
The foreign land analogy
I’m in a strange and foreign land.
Being in a strange country where I don’t know the language.
Since I don’t speak the language and I don’t know anything about the people it feels very strange and foreign.
I don’t like it, I want to leave and go back to my own place, but I can’t.
Im stuck here. It’s scary and Im afraid.
I feel Insecure.
Finally I see an embassy. It’s familiar.
The foreigner always looks for the embassy.
We look for the things that bring peace.
That small portion of something familiar that is associated with peace.
Stay there for awhile. When I return to the foreign country I must always know that there is an embassy.
(Example my friend grew up as a missionary in Albania and they brought in a Mcdonalds and with it came Mountain Dew. He said it was so great for all the US citizens because it was a piece of familiarity and that brought comfort.
The analogy of the bridge
Eventually in this strange land, there is a bridge.
A small humble bridge gets built from the strange place to a place of normalcy.
And as time goes on, more and more of these small bridges are being built back and forth.
Then as I keep crossing over the bridges and gone back and forth several times, In time, I have build so many other bridges that
Eventually those bridges start to merge together. It’s never the same place as it was, it’s different but a normalcy starts to develop and eventually there is peace in it.
The foreigner always look for the embassy. Being in a strange country don’t know the language. Look for familiarity.
Normalcy
Crossing crossing the bridge and then going back and then back until the other side of the bridge has connections made. From normalcy to pain and back again.
I lost an arm.
My arm is gone. Some people will wait for my arm to return. It’s never going to return. My arm is gone forever.
But eventually I learn to tie my shoes with one hand. People might think my arm is back because Im tying both of my shoes
But I’ve only just learned to tie with one arm, my arm is still missing.
The Apostle Paul,
“We comfort others with which the confirm we have received.”
2 cor 1:3–5
