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“Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 (NIV)

From time to time in our lives we receive word of someone whose life here on earth has come to an end. Our friends come up to us a hug us. They express their sorrow over our loss or they choose not to say anything. We don’t realize it at the time but we are mourning.

We receive condolences in many forms—the hugs, the sympathy cards, the floral tributes, the funeral dinner provided by the people of the church. We receive comfort from these actions. We also receive comfort from the memories and the stories we hear about our loved one.

Jesus also comforts us as we go through this mourning (aka grief) process. People intercede for us in prayer. They ask God to bring comfort and reassurance that we will heal from this hurt.

Mourning or grief is a personal dynamic—no two people do it the same way. But we all go through it with the Lord’s help. We had a relative who went through a time of grief prematurely. She was so upset that another of our relatives was critically ill that she cried anytime she thought of losing this person. Another relative lost her son to a very serious illness but I don’t know if she ever cried over her loss. Some people find themselves marking the anniversary of their losing someone close.

People expert in the grief process tell us that we grieve in relationship to how we love a person. I have observed that the surviving spouse of couples who have been married for a long time feel the loss far longer than what people realize.

I was once told by a woman that lost her husband that I could not make her feel better. We were at the mortuary and I was trying to talk to her. I told our pastor what she said. He reminded me that only Jesus could help her through this.

How does Christ comfort those who mourn? As Christians hear of a family’s loss, they begin to pray for them. Jesus places the family’s need on people’s hearts. He also directs us to do what we can in order to help them through their time of sorrow.

How do people comfort those who grieve? Neighbors stop in and bring food for the family .Family members share memories of the loved one. If someone in the family has a church, that congregation prepares a dinner for the family to be served after the internment. Sometimes another organization performs this task. People send sympathy cards; make donations to the person’s charity of choice.

Why do we do these things? We do them in order to show God’s love to those around us. Something as simple as a prayer brings comfort to those who have faced a loss. Jesus told us to love one another as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:39a) He also told us to be kind to each other. (Ephesians 4:32)

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