NEEDED: An Awakening of Enlightened Compassion

Shootings and death have been in our national news in recent days, most notably in Tucson. Some of the reactions to these events have been...well, strange. It was a little hard to tell whether the televised gathering for victims was a prayer service or a political pep rally. I pray that the families affected found some comfort -- if not at the televised event, in their personal services. But, of course, as those who've had to walk through grief know, a funeral is just the beginning...

In our society, and even in the church, we often treat death like some "social indiscretion." When it occurs, we uncomfortably look the other way till the moment passes...or we say something inept that actually makes it worse for the person who has been plunged into grief.

God, however, does not look the other way from our sorrow. Christ came as a "man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief" (Isaiah 53:3), and He did so that "He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). That's what He did on the cross and in His resurrection.

Those of us who have had to walk this road can -- humbly and graciously, but surely -- help others better understand how to minister to people in grief. This is one of our reasons for writing the book, FINDING HOPE IN TIMES OF GRIEF, and for being so personally vulnerable in it. As 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

Let's pray for an awakening, especially in the church, of enlightened compassion toward those who grieve. God will be glorified through it!