Saturday’s Reflection
ALLOWING OURSELVES TO MOURN develops our capacity to feel life’s joys. I believe that positive and negative emotions are two sides of the same coin. Of course, many of us would prefer to experience and deal with only positive feelings. We often feel uncomfortable with our own or others’ sadness, anger, disappointments, fears. … As we learn to feel all our feelings, we explore what it means to be fully human, to be all that God created us to be.
- Mary Lou Redding
The Power of a Focused Heart: 8 Lessons from the Beatitudes
From p. 31 of The Power of a Focused Heart: 8 Life Lessons from the Beatitudes by Mary Lou Redding. Copyright (c) 2006 by Mary Lou Redding. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question
What grieves your heart today? Share your reflections.
Today’s Scripture Reading
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain.
- 1 Corinthians 15:13-14, NRSV
This Week …
- Special Need:
- This Week: Pray for weather and seasons. Add your prayer to the Prayer Wall.
- Tips for Your Spirit:
- Centering Prayer is a type of prayer that goes deeper than verbal communication. Try a Centering Prayer exercise.
- Saints, Inc.:
- This week we remember Elizabeth Lange (February 03).
- Lectionary Readings:
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{ 11 comments }
MY HEART GRIEVES THAT I CANT ENJOY SWIMMING WITH MY FAMILY IN THE SUMMER OR WHEN THEY GO TO A RESORT, TO SWIM OR PLAY OUTDOOR GAMES WITH THEM. I CANT WALK DO TO BOTH KNEES BEING STIFF FOR 8YRS, EVEN THOUGH I HAD KNEE REPLACEMENTS. PLEASE LORD HELP MY GRIEVENESS WITH THIS AND SHOW ME MORE LIGHT OF THE SUBJECT. THANK YOU MY LOVING LORD AND SAVIOUR……..AMEN!
What grieves my heart today? As always, I looked back over yesterday’s posts – and realized that I didn’t do any acts of kindness – as I had purposed to do. At least I can’t think of any. And it isn’t a surprise – because yesterday was just the capstone of an intense, frustrating week – and I was happy when my work day was done. Not only did I miss opportunities to act kindly, in the foul mood I was in, I probably missed some acts of kindness thrown my way. Grrrrr. Father, I have been in my little bubble all week – again I ask for Your forgiveness. Help me not to self isolate, but rather to recognize where I am and to turn towards Your face.
Mary Lou, thanks for this timely message!
I can relate so well to this, being from a very close nit, loving, and God fearing community where prayers and support for family and friends is prevalent part of our lives. A small church community where when one is troubled all are troubled, when one is hurting all are hurting, when one is praising all are praising. In recent weeks we have suffered loss of dearly young beloved ones to cancer. We have poured out prayers and financial support to a young family with husband fighting cancer, and baby fighting what medical professionals deemed hopeless, yet where a young wife and mother has shown tremendous faith in the face of such a crisis. Thanks to this couples family of faith and a community of faith we are winning. Husbands cancer in remission, baby progressing well, wife and mother at peace. One of the community church’s young pastor undergoing cancer treatment is progressing well. Family and community trusting.
We give God the glory and praise for this, as well as for the lives of those God has chosen to call home. Pray for our community, our families who have suffered loss of love ones to know that – ALLOWING OURSELVES TO MOURN develops our capacity to feel life’s joys, and that emotions are a two sided coin.
Peace, Duane
I was feeling down yesterday, looking at old photographs of when the kids were small, pictures of my mom and I. Then I realized that at a certain point along the way, I stopped taking pictures and it was because I was becoming more and more addicted to drugs. I have no recent pictures, of the boys, of my mom,(who passed away almost two years ago) and dad. I was grieving over all the time and precious moments that I have lost…grieving over the loss of my mom. Maybe, sub consciously, I didn’t want to record that time in my life with pictures, I don’t know.
However, I was thinking to myself as I sat there, with those photos all around me, about how good God has been to me. He has given me a second chance at life, He has saved me from myself and has given me the strength to overcome the drugs that were destroying my life and my family.
I thought to myself…It’s time to start taking pictures again…start recording new memories of precious moments so that twenty years from now, when I’m looking at pictures, I can reflect and remember how great my Savior is and how blessed I am.
Grief is an inescapable part of being alive, but I am encouraged by 1 Thessalonians 4:13: “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you . . . to grieve like the rest of humankind who have no hope.”
Yesterday’s failures are brushed into the dust bin of history–forgiven, forgotten. Hope comes to life in this once-again gift of 24 hours.
I am grieving the loss of my marriage. I am alone now in my own house and this is so very hard for me. To go from being with my husband almost 24/7 for 3 years to this is almost unbearable for me. I am without family and friends as I am so far away from all I know and love. The only thing that is keeping me going is the love of these friends and family from afar. I am clinging to Jesus by my fingernaila for he is all that I have left and he never changes. I pray continuously for salvation and healing for my husband. For without hope what do we have?
what grieves my heart is the level of fighting my husband and I get to. why we do this in front of our baby is beyond me. what grieves my heart is the act of our own selfishness and our inability to stop a heated discussion and wait until we are both calm down. I grieve because of my husbands depression. I grieve because he is unemployed and can’t find work. I grieve because our families are not in good standing. I grieve because we are running out of money. I grieve because we have to live in the basement of my parents house. I grieve because we cannot provide all the things our beautiful daughter deserves. I grieve because we can treat each other coldly when what we need to do is cling to each other. What make a bad situation worse is being alone in each others company.
After reading above, my grieving is for all of you with so many REAL problems.
As I look back on my life I have been in each and every situation that you have described. Somewhere along the way, don’t know how or when, things seemed to get better.
May it was the prayers of a loving mother and grandmother or their church family, who knows? But it happened.
Hang in there by fingernails, long ropes or whatever, but most of all pray. Our God is a loving,caring and all forgiving God. He, even if no one else is, is always there for us 24/7.
Not that I don’t grieve the losses I’ve had, but today my grieving has healed just a little thanks to this community.
Blessings
When the trials of life seem overwhelming, I put my trust in God to handle all and I claim His word in the Bible. I put my faith in God to bring me through if not around situations. I ask Him to give me patience and a quiet spirit as I wait and perform my daily tasks as well as I can. During the day, I will repeat a Bible verse for spiritual strength, such as: The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. -Deuteronomy 31:8
I grieve for everyone who has posted these comments today I grieve for myself–for the loss of my son,for the loss of mobiity due to back pain and illness, for the jobless, for the space workers who are about to lose their jobs, for the loss of the spirit of exploration which has taken us to the edge of our universe, for all those in need of medical care who have no access, for the victims of the earthquake. It seems like I could go on endlessly for there is so much to mourn for in this world. Yet still there is something within me that will not give up gratitude for what still remains–hope for the future, God’s unending love and the indominatible human spirit-surely a sign of God’s grace. And for Charlotte–I try to look at what I still can do–not just what I can’t. God is alive and with us always.
Here are our pains, griefs and losses Lord and they hurt and some worry us. We place them all at your feet Lord. We can’t fix them and holding on to them is too painful. Lord, we give them to you and trust you to fix them and to strengthen us to bear what we must. Turn our tears to joy and fix our eyes and hearts on you. We love you and know that we can count on you to be with us, carrying us through the hard times. Take our hands and lead us on, Lord. Amen
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