I don't know if it's just me, but it feels like I can't hop on FaceBook or even the news without hearing about world-rocking loss hitting someone I know. One day, I spent about five minutes online and found news of three deaths, all in rapid succession. A friend of mine posted a news article of how her niece and her niece's best friend were hit by a truck, which killed one of them. Another friend is reeling from the death of a cousin. Another friend's mother unexpectedly passed away. And so on. Then, of course, were the loss of the three-year-old I wrote about last time and the loss of my good friend's beloved husband I wrote about some time ago. They all break my heart because they were so sudden and unexpected. Each of them broke multiple hearts. And the list of loss rolls on. For the sake of one of my friends, I looked up a FaceBook support group for mothers of angels. Now, I get the stream on my FaceBook wall of pictures of babies mourned. It's almost a shock to see a baby who is still alive and well.
I don't actually know most of those who were lost, but I feel their pain. It's so hard to be living life, feeling like everything is okay when someone calls or something happenszx, and your world falls apart. I run into constant reminders of how fragile life is and how precious the moments are. I know families can be forever, but loss is so hard in the here and now. I fell into the trap of self-blame, and I can only imagine that's a very real struggle in the lives of many of those who have lost those they love.
It's such a helpless feeling to hear about someone's pain when you can't do anything. All you want to do is take away their pain, yet you know it's not possible. All I can do in many cases is pray for their peace. Healing is hard. I know my prayers and others' prayers softened the pain. I know the Lord carried me when I could no longer walk. I just hope and pray those with such fresh pain are blessed with the same.
