March 31

Easter Eve

             Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones.

Psalm 116:15

             My daughter was a typical peer in a preschool class for special needs children.  She was an ideal fit as she was used to living with someone on the spectrum.  She was gracious and outgoing, verbal enough for two children and she made friends easily.  As happens with little kids, she got sick one day and had to stay home from school.  We found out that her best friend in the class also got sick and had to stay home.  She got better.  He didn’t.  He had a lot of physical challenges and his little body was not able to fight off the complications that came with the virus.

            How do you explain death to a four year old?  How do you explain that life ends and people who were part of your everyday routine will no longer be around?  How do you respond when she asks why God would allow this or says that it is not fair?  You hold her close and let her cry and tell her that she is right.  It is not fair.  It is not fair that some of our kids are born with bodies that cannot hold up to the strains of life.  It is not fair that some parents have to bury their children.  Doesn’t God care?

            He cares.  He cares incredibly deeply.  It is here, the night before Easter, where we see that He sat in that exact same place with that exact same loss.  He knows what it is like to lose His child and all of the emotions that go along with that experience.  The piercing pain, the gnawing ache, the numbness of shock…having to go on when you have just buried a piece of your heart.  God the Father, who had always had His son by His side, stepped into that place of pain and loss willingly, because He knew it paved the way for us to come back home.  It was willing, but it was also painful.  God holds the death of a child gingerly, tenderly, knowing how vulnerable a moment this is for the family.

            It is on the night before Easter that we look at this verse also because even though God the Father went through the pain, He knew that death was not the end of the story.  There is new life that comes tomorrow.  On the other side of this night comes resurrection and hope and life everlasting.  On the other side of this night comes connection and celebration, as sweet a reunion as you could imagine.  On the other side of this night comes a promise fulfilled, death defeated and our way home completed.

            The promise of tomorrow does not need to overshadow the emotion of what we suffer tonight.  It is okay to mourn.  It is okay to weep.  It is okay to seek answers, for we have not seen the promise yet fulfilled.  Tomorrow we will rejoice and laugh.

            Tonight we can sit in sorrow as we share the burdens of those who have lost their beloved children.  We can do that much.

A moment to reflect:

Who do you know who has lost a child?  Spend a while praying comfort for them.