Well, Sue’s homegoing celebration is now behind me. Volunteers with cheerful chatter and chainsaws have departed. All that’s left is the Silence of WaterBrooks.
The little cabin I’m staying in is off grid and at the moment all I hear is the loud ticking of the wall clock and Rodney’s heavy breathing as he’s curled up on the sofa beside me.
The silence could be overwhelming. But I remind myself that Sue lived a lifetime in silence. Profound and total silence. And she was not afraid of it! Instead, she learned to embrace it and grow through it. She received it as a gift. Yes, her deafness was a result of the brokenness of the body but she knew God could use it when given to Him. She often said, “The silence will teach us, if we listen.”
So, this morning as I’m sitting here with my coffee and books, something I read and copied back in February when grief was raw and throbbing, is speaking to me again.
“There is no value or meaning,
Either in our joys
Or our sorrows,
Unless both the one and the other send us to Christ.” Alexander McClaren
I want both my joys and my sorrows to have meaning! Otherwise my life and life’s experiences would be pointless, useless, empty! And that would be a waste of emotion.
God created us with capacity for deep emotion for a reason. Emotion is a gift and He will transform it into something rich and beautiful when given back to Him.
I must grab that joy and the sorrow and let them point my thoughts toward Christ Jesus, and Things to Come.
Only then will these emotions become ‘light’ afflictions and affections. Sorrow will become a momentary blip in the Bigger Picture of Eternity. And our earthly happinesses, those brief perfect moments we have here, are like a sip or tasting of what is to come Forever After!
Onward and Upward!
Deborah
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