who tells them the seasons?
how do we, humans know when it is time to move on?
as with the migrant birds, so surely with us,
there is a voice within, if only we would listen to it
that tells us so certainly to go forth
into the unknown."
~Elizabeth Kubler Ross
loss requires perspective.
i think perspective comes with and through time and separation from the loss.
but sometimes loss doesn't happen in one fell swoop, rather it comes as a season with good and bad moments and then can hang on like a habit that cannot be broken. it is most definitely a long and arduous process, one in which there is no other way around but through. and some losses will hang with us forever.
but in that there is beauty to be held in the loss. there are memories and fondness that can ease the pain. what is most wonderful and lovely in loss is that it brings out a hunger for heaven. it stirs a desire for hope that is true and lasting. and it is a reminder that our lives are more than this. our lives are meant to be defined by much, much more than the losses that accumulate.
sometimes loss is worn like an unremovable label...they lost their child, she lost her husband, his parents abandoned him. sometimes those losses become a part of you whether you like it or not. sometimes they must define every next step. sometimes those losses and the way you carry yourselves through and after lift you up to be a beacon of hope for others.
then there are the other losses. i wouldn't dare call them smaller, they are just "other". one can lose a grandparent, and those sorts of losses are not entirely unexpected. for we learn with old age, death is rather inevitable. then there are the losses of beloved pets. expected or not, they can be equally difficult to walk through. then there is the death of a dream, the loss of a job, friendship or even expectations. all of which hold their own pain.
the question loss begs is, when is it time to move on? not forget, but forge a new path...when is it time to go forth and chase after a new dream? when is it the time to remarry? to have another kid, to get a new pet?
lately, life is scattered with little losses. i can assess the size of my own because i know how they feel when i sit with them and hold them in my hands. i feel their weight and though they are not great in size, the depth of their pain is real. they are losses i can certainly move on from. they are losses that remind me life is a both/and experience rather than an either/or.
moving on requires a direction, and i find that it is the direction that is unknown. and the unknown, right now, feels like the greatest hardship amidst the losses. the unknown, instead of feeling expansive in nature actually feels quite limiting. and as soon as i recognized the limits that i felt, i realized i was losing hope. and the loss of hope is not a loss i can bear. it wasn't even an all encompassing loss of hope, but rather a gradual loss that showed itself when it finally came to writing down the possibilities of new directions. i couldn't see past the way in which i've let these recent losses define me.
so i lay these losses at the Lord's feet. i give Him this 'unbeknownst to me', direction. He knows. when i am feeling a sense of lost hope i know with great certainty i am at the very least headed in the wrong direction. so i trust, i must trust, He knows.
so, tomorrow, Lord willing, i will awake, and i will rise and my feet will touch the ground and i will walk forward, pressing into the day, dreaming and living in unknown directions. i may not know what the next day holds, but He does. and His direction for me is saturated in hope.
Lord, let us not lose sight of You. You who holds Hope in His hands. Help us to rely on and rest in You. Draw us, our dreams and desires, our losses and heartbreak to You, the only true Hope. thank you that (as scary as it is) we can go forth into the unknown, trusting (not always seeing) that you truly are guiding each step. as we take these quiet, sometimes trepid steps toward your lead, may we come to know You more intimately, knowing that you too bear our losses. may we find the comfort of peace that you offer us so graciously.
i think perspective comes with and through time and separation from the loss.
but sometimes loss doesn't happen in one fell swoop, rather it comes as a season with good and bad moments and then can hang on like a habit that cannot be broken. it is most definitely a long and arduous process, one in which there is no other way around but through. and some losses will hang with us forever.
but in that there is beauty to be held in the loss. there are memories and fondness that can ease the pain. what is most wonderful and lovely in loss is that it brings out a hunger for heaven. it stirs a desire for hope that is true and lasting. and it is a reminder that our lives are more than this. our lives are meant to be defined by much, much more than the losses that accumulate.
sometimes loss is worn like an unremovable label...they lost their child, she lost her husband, his parents abandoned him. sometimes those losses become a part of you whether you like it or not. sometimes they must define every next step. sometimes those losses and the way you carry yourselves through and after lift you up to be a beacon of hope for others.
then there are the other losses. i wouldn't dare call them smaller, they are just "other". one can lose a grandparent, and those sorts of losses are not entirely unexpected. for we learn with old age, death is rather inevitable. then there are the losses of beloved pets. expected or not, they can be equally difficult to walk through. then there is the death of a dream, the loss of a job, friendship or even expectations. all of which hold their own pain.
the question loss begs is, when is it time to move on? not forget, but forge a new path...when is it time to go forth and chase after a new dream? when is it the time to remarry? to have another kid, to get a new pet?
lately, life is scattered with little losses. i can assess the size of my own because i know how they feel when i sit with them and hold them in my hands. i feel their weight and though they are not great in size, the depth of their pain is real. they are losses i can certainly move on from. they are losses that remind me life is a both/and experience rather than an either/or.
moving on requires a direction, and i find that it is the direction that is unknown. and the unknown, right now, feels like the greatest hardship amidst the losses. the unknown, instead of feeling expansive in nature actually feels quite limiting. and as soon as i recognized the limits that i felt, i realized i was losing hope. and the loss of hope is not a loss i can bear. it wasn't even an all encompassing loss of hope, but rather a gradual loss that showed itself when it finally came to writing down the possibilities of new directions. i couldn't see past the way in which i've let these recent losses define me.
so i lay these losses at the Lord's feet. i give Him this 'unbeknownst to me', direction. He knows. when i am feeling a sense of lost hope i know with great certainty i am at the very least headed in the wrong direction. so i trust, i must trust, He knows.
so, tomorrow, Lord willing, i will awake, and i will rise and my feet will touch the ground and i will walk forward, pressing into the day, dreaming and living in unknown directions. i may not know what the next day holds, but He does. and His direction for me is saturated in hope.
Lord, let us not lose sight of You. You who holds Hope in His hands. Help us to rely on and rest in You. Draw us, our dreams and desires, our losses and heartbreak to You, the only true Hope. thank you that (as scary as it is) we can go forth into the unknown, trusting (not always seeing) that you truly are guiding each step. as we take these quiet, sometimes trepid steps toward your lead, may we come to know You more intimately, knowing that you too bear our losses. may we find the comfort of peace that you offer us so graciously.
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