Tonight Nick one of the point people for Uprising is giving the message to the students and he is speaking on grieving and loss. As soon as I hear those words the idea of death comes to my mind but what the topic really covers is so much more. And while it’s difficult to move past the death of someone we know, it’s important that we recognize other losses in our lives. I think if we don’t acknowledge the other losses in our lives we won’t be true to our emotions. So what’s a loss…the simplest way I can put it is: A transition or change in ones life from one thing to another.
A loss that I didn’t really acknowledge for a while was the move I made from Baltimore City into the county. I love the city, wasn’t planning on being there forever, but I loved the experience of living there. When Kate and I moved out there was excitement for owning our first home, having a driveway and a yard. The excitement lasted for a while but then came sense of loss when I began to realize that in order to get from point A to point B the only real option was driving. No more was I privy to walking out, hopping on the light rail or going a block to hit up Rite Aid. I also realized going into the inner harbor involved looking for parking, the way I did things changed, even the way I ran…no longer was it easy to find new routes…if I wanted to run somewhere new I had to drive to get there. Part of me was sad and I grieved, but now that I’ve been in my house for about 2 years, I’m finding the joys of the new place I’m in. Do I miss the city? Sure, but I don’t want to move back any time soon. Was it bad for me to grieve this change in my life? No, because it gave me time to realize what I had and what I was being given was a blessing from God.
In any kind of change there is a risk of grieving, but instead of that being ignored it should be embraced. And not every change has apparent blessings, it’s not like you can say, this happened, that person died or I’m moving on because God wants this in my life. The grieving is the beginning of that discernment.
I believe Nick is going to do well in explaining that tonight to the students and I look forward to hearing their reaction. We want the students to embrace the path God puts them on, not ignore it. So, what do you need to embrace?