Some people that I care about and others that I've never met, but as I feel for all people for different reasons, people whom I care about even though I've never met them, have been faced with a tremendously difficult week. Their lives will be forever altered, and they might respond to me that of course I can say this because I don't know what they're going through. I'd only partially agree, I don't think any two people experience loss and grief in the same way. The anguish and agony, the pain and hurt, the shock, the anger, and ultimate the void is all the same. There is something missing. Better yet, there is someone missing. But he is in a much better place.
"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven; a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for piece." Ecclesiastes 3:1-9.
Nobody but God knows when our life is to end. He knows the moment, and it is all part of His great plan. You might ask, if this is part of His plan, why did it happen this way? Well, God gave us free will and that means that sometimes things happen, they are not beyond His control, but they are part of how He wanted his earth to be. As the verse above explains, there is a time for anything and everything. Some ask, well, why now, why at 33? I strongly believe that if God brings you to it, He'll bring you through it. Could it also be true, that if whatever he is bringing you through is so difficult that you'll make it through it, but with nothing to gain, that he can swiftly end it? I don't believe in a vengeful God, although I'm sure he could be. I don't believe He took Damian from this world to punish those that are left behind. I believe He took him out of his mercy and grace to save Damian from the pain that this world has thrust upon him. Times like these are a test of our faith. He was such a loving man to so many people, remember all the wonderful moments spent with him. Would your life be better to have never had him in it? Think back to all those precious moments spent with him, if they were gone, would that have been better? Yes, there is pain now, and yes, it won't be easy, but also know that he only wanted people to be happy. He didn't choose to leave you all behind. And he wouldn't want you to stop just because he's gone. I think I posted this on Saturday, but for someone to always be remembered, you have to bring them along.
This song is about a little baby that died, but I think it is oh so fitting for any kind of loss:
Two months is too little
They let him go
They had no sudden healing
To think that providence
Would take a child from his mother
While she prays, is appalling
Who told us we'd be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
Were asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it's unfair
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We'd be held
This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We'd be held
If hope if born of suffering
If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait, for one hour
Watching for our savior
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We'd be held
"Held" - Natalie Grant
They let him go
They had no sudden healing
To think that providence
Would take a child from his mother
While she prays, is appalling
Who told us we'd be rescued
What has changed and
Why should we be saved from nightmares
Were asking why this happens to us
Who have died to live, it's unfair
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We'd be held
This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We'd be held
If hope if born of suffering
If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait, for one hour
Watching for our savior
This is what it means to be held
How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life
And you survive
This is what it is to be loved and to know
That the promise was that when everything fell
We'd be held
"Held" - Natalie Grant
R. I. P. Damian Silverthorn
1977 - 2011
Another song, because it just clicked in my head that this would be pefect:
there's no one in town i know
you gave us someplace to go
i never said thank you for that
thought i might get one more chance
what would you think of me now?
so lucky
so strong
so proud
never said thank you for that
now i'll never have a chance
may angels lead you in
hear you me my friends
on sleepless roads the sleepless go
may angels lead you in
what would you think of me now?
so lucky
so strong
so proud
never said thank you for that
now i'll never have a chance
may angels lead you in
hear you me my friends
on sleepless roads the sleepless go
may angels lead you in
if you were with me tonight
i'd sing to you just one more time
a song for a heart so big god wouldn't let it live
may angels lead you in
hear you me my friends
on sleepless roads the sleepless go
may angels lead you in
may angels lead you in
hear you me my friends
on sleepless roads the sleepless go
may angels lead you in
"hear you me" - jimmy eat world
1977 - 2011
Another song, because it just clicked in my head that this would be pefect:
there's no one in town i know
you gave us someplace to go
i never said thank you for that
thought i might get one more chance
what would you think of me now?
so lucky
so strong
so proud
never said thank you for that
now i'll never have a chance
may angels lead you in
hear you me my friends
on sleepless roads the sleepless go
may angels lead you in
what would you think of me now?
so lucky
so strong
so proud
never said thank you for that
now i'll never have a chance
may angels lead you in
hear you me my friends
on sleepless roads the sleepless go
may angels lead you in
if you were with me tonight
i'd sing to you just one more time
a song for a heart so big god wouldn't let it live
may angels lead you in
hear you me my friends
on sleepless roads the sleepless go
may angels lead you in
may angels lead you in
hear you me my friends
on sleepless roads the sleepless go
may angels lead you in
"hear you me" - jimmy eat world
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