It’s a little after midnight in January 2011. Tonight the president spoke at a memorial service for the 6 people who died in Arizona at a political gathering. When the news of the shooting came across my twitter page, I was shocked but as I sat and watched CNN for hours that Saturday, I mourned. I worked for a little less than two years for two different US Congressmen. That moment in time was a moment that I could just as easily been standing in.
At church one of our pastors reminded us that as Christians we are called to have joy with those who have joy and to mourn with those who mourn, but I think we don’t know how to do that. I think our perception of God is too tied into a view of benevolence that doesn’t accept mourning as a possibility. We question God’s goodness when people suffer. We say that it happened for a reason. But do we mourn with those who mourn?
Do we mourn when tsunamis wipe out thousands, when earthquakes level islands, when hurricanes displace and destroy lives, and when countless other disasters befall on our fellow man? It’s easy to be happy for those who have great things happen in their lives, but have we become so callous to pain that we are unable to mourn?
As I sit and write this, I think of a funeral I am to attend tomorrow of a woman who lived a full life and who desired to see God. We celebrate her life, but we ought to also mourn her passing. We ought to mourn with her family who just lost one they love.
It’s time that we did more than just be happy for those who are happy. When we see the world around us mourning, we need to mourn with them and show them the Comforter who can help to take away the pain.
There's a time to mourn and there's a time to dance.
