Recently, my dad's side experienced two deaths in less than a week, so everyone is dealing with a lot of emotions right now. I feel like this is the most appropriate topic to talk about right now.
One time, one of my professors asked our class to individually describe to someone next to us how we picture the story of our lives to be, and he listened in on the conversations. When we came back together as a class, he had noted that none of us mentioned death as part of the story of our lives, although we all know that someday that's how our stories will end.
Although we all know that death is inevitable, many times we don't want to believe it. A lot of us have that "outta sight, outta mind" mentality about the subject. Death is hard no matter which way you go about it, so the grief that comes with it is bound to come along.
I read a devotional one day from this book by a woman named Joyce Meyer, and it talked about grieving. The title was called "Let Yourself Grieve," and the Bible reference was to the shortest one in the entire Bible:
"Jesus wept."
If you didn't know already, yes, Jesus did cry. This just goes to show that it's okay to grieve. It's okay to show emotion, whatever emotions that may be; God allowed us to have these feelings for a reason. Maybe you've heard this clichéd saying about death before, but it is so true. Lots of people nowadays try to put up a front and show their tough exterior and do everything in their power not to show how they are really feeling. But if you need to cry, cry it out. If for some reason death makes you laugh (even if you don't mean to), let it out. Everyone handles death differently. Some cry, some get mad, some get quiet, and sometimes, others just isolate themselves. However you need to deal, please do it.
Just know, that while there may be pain in the night, joy comes in the morning. God is there to comfort you and remind you that while it's a sad thing that loved ones have left, life goes on and they are in a better place now.
I'm really sad that I didn't know the two uncles that died very well (they lived in the Philippines), but it's saddening to watch my dad deal with the death of a brother-in-law and his only brother. I can't even imagine how it is for my aunt, who lost both her husband and brother in less than a week. Please keep my family in your prayers, as I will be praying for them as well.
