This week has been filled with so much tragedy and trauma with the shootings in Indiana, Chicago and in our own city of Minneapolis we await the outcome of the Jury decision in the case heard around the world.

16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8

 There are some days I wake up wishing once and for all to see none of the violence, murders, mass shootings that has become a regular routine in days gone by.  My heart hurts for Shaunte Wright's mom who now must bury her son when she had hoped to have him around well into her old age.  I was disturbed by the video images of a police officer shooting a 13 year old boy in the chest because he had a hand gun and he was running away from the officer. One account said the boy looked much older than his stated age.  Regardless, what I do know is that a family now must bury their 13 year-old son when they fully anticipated having him around much longer than they did.  I'm sure his parents are thinking my son should have buried us when we died, not the other way around.  George Floyd was a man and like all men we occasionally make mistakes. It was May 30th, 2018 that Larcenia, his mom, died and by all accounts George grieved heavily for the loss of his mom. He missed her terribly because she was the one that reminded George that he was loved. 

We simply do not in America and other civilized countries do a very good job addressing our grief. The average person is likely to find ways to bury their grief deep down under with hopes that the pain will never surface again.  We just assume forget than taking the road less traveled, facing our grief one emotion at a time, unraveling and sharing with trusted listeners until one day we can smile again.

Instead, most people will venture down a path of drug and alcohol use, or other addictive behaviors because we false assume they will help us numb our pain.  The reality of this fallacy is that as those addictive behaviors grow it eventually takes it toll on the body until death wins out. We forget that just because we die from a sudden catastrophic event doesn't mean that our surviving loved ones who witnessed our demise won't suffer from the lasting pain.  

As a dad who experienced such a loss, I can tell you that the greatest thing you can do to help your family isn't to gravitate toward the alcohol or drugs, or to stop attending Church, but the greatest thing that could be your lasting legacy as a father is to go with your family to weekly Church service.  No, Church may not be the same after the loss of a loved one, but I do know that being present allows others in the body of Christ to shower you with the love and support your family needs to get through the approaching years.

I often remind myself that God lost His son, but he gave his son to provide a way of eternal salvation for all world view faiths. God knows what it is like to be in deep, deep pain and He is ready to walk by your side as long as it takes to recover from this loss.

If you are experiencing the loss of someone special in your life and  nothing seems to help you, I encourage you to look into a 13-week grief share group which is a group that will teach you to walk through the pain, not around it.  https://griefshare.org