Held in our sorrow

I didn’t mean to bum anyone out the other day by talking about all of that sorrow and despair. Truly.

See, we can’t spiritually override the blue notes in our lives. For years, I tried to do this. Whenever I got down in the dumps, I’d spiritually try to pull myself above them and 'get into a higher vibration.’ This low mood, I thought, was bad. Or, it was false and illusory. Not real.

But wow, is it real. I have a friend whose 6-year-old nephew just died from a rare form of cancer. I can’t imagine what my friend - and especially the boy’s parents - are going through this holiday season.

Sorrow, sadness…
Is a thing.
A real and truly experienced thing.

And…

We need not be afraid of it. We need not override or bypass it. In fact, we CANNOT override or bypass it. The low, blue notes of life are as integral to the human experience as the high notes are.

Death is an integral part of life. Sadness is an integral part of happiness. Despair is an integral part of hope. These things work together. Halleluia!

Our world is and has always been an apocalyptic one. Wars, droughts, famines, floods, pandemics, etc.

And here’s the Advent hope…

These things are not merely the signs of a someday coming of the Lord. These aren’t signs of a future someday coming of Christ. They ARE the inbreaking of Christ. These apocalyptic things ARE the entry points of Christ in our lives.

God doesn't just show up AFTER our suffering. God is HERE NOW. Though we feel a natural yearning for God to come and bring us out of the valleys of sorrow, we have to know that God, the eternal Word/Logos - is NEVER NOT with us. Especially in our sorrow.

God finds us when we are dead to bring us back to life. As they say, God’s office is located at the end of our rope.

Death and resurrection is the pattern of life. Just look at nature. If everything was in a perpetual pattern of living and increasing, everything would eventually… End.

God works life and light
through death and darkness.
All of it is used by God.

The leaves must fall and turn to dust in order for new leaves to come in the spring. The fox must eat the cute little chicken in order to keep tending to her babies. We make bad judgments about what is good and what is evil. This is why, in Advent, we are invited to take our cue from the darker days and longer shadows and just...

Be still.
Breathe through it.
It’s okay RIGHT NOW.

In Advent, we are reminded that we are safe in our sorrow. We are held by a bigger love than our own. This sorrow that we may feel (and we all do, if we’re honest) is not a condemnation. For there is now no condemnation in Christ.

In each moment, we are held safely in the death and resurrection of Christ.

There is so much hope in this. Not for when you feel better. But now. God joins you in the dark. Though it is hard to hold fast to Him during these times, know that He holds fast to you. Always.