Grief is like a rollercoaster. I am crying and laughing at the same time. One minute I’m weeping and the next I’m rejoicing. The rejoicing comes from a secure HOPE. 1 Thessalonians 4:13: But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
Grief needs weeping. Weeping is necessary. Jesus wept with weeping friends (John 11). Weeping is to grief as a vent is to a pressure cooker. Weeping releases the loss and pain of grief. It is healing for the soul and even the body.
Weeping is unpredictable. I am an “on call” night chaplain. When someone dies between 5pm-8am I am “called back” to the hospital. Five days after Sandie went to heaven I was called to the hospital (8/10). I met with the family of the deceased patient and talked with the NOK. I asked if she was present when her mother died, the moment her mother’s spirit left her body. She was. I shared my experience of being with my wife when she died five days ago and how I saw her spirit leave her body. I started weeping! Then all the family members in the room were weeping.
We all wept together. Romans 12:15: Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
I don’t know when I will weep. Something will trigger the tears; a picture, a memory, a song, another person’s grief at his/her loss. I wept 3 months before Sandie died. I was driving around Big Bend NP while taking a respite from caregiving listening to satellite radio and John Denver’s Annie’s Song came on. I sang it and wept; it was “Sandie’s Song” for me. When the weeping is triggered, just let the tears flow. Don’t be embarrassed or try to “be strong”. Open the vent and let the pressure be released in tears.
Weeping is an expression of love. John 11:35-36: Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” Love weeps.
Wilenghart’s Wisdom 