Family Chapel PodPoint

We are called to weep with those who weep and bear each other's burdens with wisdom. Walking with others in grief means presence, empathy, and sacrifice.

While lamenting is just one part of a multi-faceted journey in processing grief, for Christians, it is an essential part. In this passage, we see four major steps for engaging in the practice of lament: turn, complain, trust, and ask. As we engage in these steps of lament, we can begin to process our grief.

Grief is a natural and appropriate emotional response to the unavoidable losses we experience living in a fallen world. Grief will be expressed in different ways by different people with a variety of emotional, physical, cognitive, and behavioral indicators. Often, we attempt to resist dealing with our grief because it is painful to do so, but that leads to the unhealthy alternatives of avoidance, anger, and addictions. The better way forward is to face our grief, because in doing so, by God's grace, we will grow in freedom, wisdom, resilience, compassion, and joy.

As much as we rightly herald Easter Sunday as a day of joyful victory, if we’re honest, life doesn’t quite feel like that. Rather, life feels much more like the Saturday in between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. And in this in-between period, we find ourselves groaning under the weight of sin and death - groaning because of the way things are, but also groaning because we look forward to the way things will be. But even in our groaning, we can wait well because the Holy Spirit groans for us and with us.

Critics of Christianity have proposed alternative theories to explain away the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Three of those theories are the Theft Theory, the Unknown Tomb Theory, and the Spiritual Resurrection Theory. None of those theories hold much explanatory power.