“God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.5.4.NLT
Mourning is the deep expression of grieving.
Reflection
Another way of saying it is that grief expressed is mourning.
Grief is connected to love that has been broken in day-to-day living. We experience this when someone passes because we are separated for a time from the exchange of love with the one who has passed. The tears, wailing, crying out, and seeking help are all expressions of mourning.
We experience grief with brutal diseases like Dementia, where a loved one incrementally pulls away from love right in front of your eyes, one inch at a time. When the experience of shared love is disrupted, and the grief is profound, we express it through mourning.
Mourning is individual. It is also something to be shared in community. When we see love broken in the world with hate and hurt, we grieve what we, as a culture, are attempting to replace love with. There is corporate or communal mourning over the loss of love for each other.
Mourning is spiritual. When we come face to face with our sin as God wraps us in his love, we grieve the damage we have done and the love we have ignored for so long. We mourn the love of God we chose to be separated from for so long.
Mourning is healthy. It moves us in the right direction. Healthy mourning compels us to a deeper engagement with God and his love. It challenges us to be more compassionate toward humanity.
Encouragement
God understands the intensity of mourning. He responds to it when we bring our broken love and accompanying grief to him. He draws close to our mourning and comforts us.
This is a precious gift.
Where is love breaking or broken in your life? What is the grief you are experiencing? How are you mourning? Who are you mourning with?
When you bring this to God, he mourns with you. He comforts you. He draws you close with more love than you could ever have hoped for.
Prayer
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for your teaching about the comfort of God in times of mourning.
Thank you for reminding us that when love is disrupted or broken, we grieve.
Thank you for speaking to the importance of expressing our grief through mourning.
Thank you for drawing close and comforting us with a love that cannot be broken or separated from us.
In your name, Jesus, we pray,
Amen
Ed McDowell