NOVEMBER 12
Give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
—ISAIAH 61:3The Prophet is anticipating the good news of God’s deliver-
ance. Of what does deliverance consist for us?
Not that the situation will change and our loved one be
restored to us. We know better than to hope for that.
But maybe to be delivered from some of this pain, so that
our existence is no longer shadowed by our loss, and the
beauty of the world is no longer just a reminder that the one
we shared it with is gone. From that—yes—we can hope to
be delivered.
We have but to look around us and see the many others
who have suffered losses. They are legion. They walk the
streets with us, get on and off the bus, shop with us in the
stores. They have survived. And some of them have been
made stronger and are now pillars of support for others.
When we shall have been delivered from our deepest
grief—by the help of friends, by faith, by time, by work to
which we can return with a heightened sensibility—then
we, too, shall experience “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,”
and be a blessing to those who need us.
I know that I shall walk out into the sunshine again.