Thank You, Father.

There is no moment in this life as devastating as losing someone we love.  Most all of us have stood at the grave of a mother or father, a husband or wife, a daugher or son.  To set in words the sheer agony and grief which comes in those moments of loss goes far beyond the ability of any writer of words to describe. Broken hearts are not easy to define and neither are they ever really completely repaired.  These moments of loss are never moments we seek.  We run from them.  We deny them.  We do everything we can to keep them away, but still, despite our best efforts, they come.     

In those moments of darkness we are often tempted to turn our back on the One we think should have and could have brought us to a different outcome.  We might even find ourselves questioning His ability to understand.  And while God is not diminished or threatened by us as we shake our fist at Him, we also know in the deep places of our heart that the moment we seek to avoid, He chose.  He chose the darkness of death and separation as a way of expressing His love for each one of us.  And, what one of us can imagine such a love?   Would I have chosen to stand at the grave of someone I loved so deeply as a way of expressing love for a world of people who did not know me and would never honor such an act of sacrifice?  I know my answer.  

I would not make such a choice, but God did as He came to that moment of experiencing death at the cross.  He chose to go through the horrror of that moment because of His great love for you and me.  It was His way of providing for us a way to finally get our broken selves to a place of wholeness.  It was His way of opening the door for us to eternal life with Him.  We had through our choices turned our back on His choices for us and, yet, He still loved us enough to go through death itself to make a way for us to finally get Home again.  "Thank You, Father.  Thank You."