Peace in the Valley

"There'll be peace in the valley for me someday,
There'll be peace in the valley for me, I pray,
 No more sorrow and sadness or trouble will be,

There'll be peace in the valley for me."

My precious Sister in Grief:

I recall lyrics I used to hear Mother singing early mornings asI awakened.  It took years for me to connect her song with an event or situation that had occurred, or a premonition of something that may have barely touched her heart.  She sang her prayers of safety against the Unknown or future distress.

That's why I write to you today about peace, albeit a different circumstance; nevertheless, "The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7, ESV).  I'm a mother who wants to assure you that the Holy Spirit will give you peace so liberally that you eventually will be able to accept the unacceptable.

The Holy Spirit, sent as the Comforter will assuage the incoherent, incomprehensible pain that pierces like a stiletto, and recurs with unerring frequency.  Yet,

"Softly and  tenderly Jesus is calling,
Calling for you and for me;
See, on the portals, He's waiting and watching,
Watching for you and for me.
Come home, Come home,
Ye who are weary, come home...

I soon realized that Mother's song-prayer served as supplication.  More sooner than later, Mother's distress "got out of her way."  She had an extensive "playlist," as it's called today, buttressed by an unshakable, immovable faith.  What a legacy! Still, it's taken years to appreciate that "Jesus will fix it after a while."  The songs she sang invariably made the difference between despair and hope.

BUT, Mother's travail pales in comparison to your for real, it really happened!  The irreparable devastation haunts and mocks every moment, it seems.  After Courtney died, I remember standing at the edge of the Ocean, watching the ebb and flow of wave after wave and thinking, "I can no more start or stop the next wave than I can tell the Sun to rise in the East and set in the West!" Gone; it's  gone away for good!" 

That's impotence.  The knowingness.  The unceasing sorrow. The inexorability of realizing there was nothing I could have done to prevent the death of my Baby Girl!

While no two of us grieve identically, we all feel feelings.  I can look into the mirror of your loss and see mine.  You'll find that you can also.  It's not pleasant, but it certainly becomes familiar, like wearing the same uniform.  You can see the ketchup that fell when you weren't watching.   Or the grease spot that didn't wash out.  It's uncanny, eerie even.

I don't know how it happens, just that it does.  Simply, dear Friend in Sorrow, I'm with you in spirit. I'm with you in the loss.  I'm with you in love.  Blessings.

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Thank you, Dear Readers, from Brazil to Ukraine; from Canada, India, Poland, South Korea, the United States, and many countries in between.  Your support of those of us who grieve gratifies and helps to heal as I share thoughts about death, loss, and loved ones.  I write about the impact of our losses which include but are not limited to, relationships, income, dreams, and "isms" (age, sex, and race, to name a few).  I hope you'll subscribe and share comments and donations so we can reach even more "Club Members" all over the World.  Blessings!