Death Divides

This is from the nightly devotional book I read called, "Healing After Loss," by Martha Whitmore Hickman. I have recorded extra special passages from it before, so here is another one. They are all really good but some really stand out. They start out with a quote, then the message, then a final little thought:

"If death, my friend and me divide,
thou dost not, Lord, my sorrow chide,
or frown my tears to see;
restrained from passionate excess,
thou bidst me mourn in calm distress
for them that rest in thee.   -Charles Wesley

Sometimes we have the mistaken notion that people of faith do not grieve. Confident that the essence of their loved one has survived and that they will know each other again, they move calmly through this temporary separation without tears or turmoil.
   Not so. Let us not add to our already burdened hearts any further burden of guilt that we so easily "give way" to our grief. Wouldn't we miss our loved one if he or she moved halfway around the world? The imponderable mysteries of death are far more impenetrable than having a loved one move to a foreign land!
   Fortunate are those whose faith remains strong in the face of loss. They are also fortunate if they can mourn freely and without recrimination from themselves or others. To be human is to feel the pain of loss. To be healed of that pain is wonderful, but there are no shortcuts. There is only the way through.

I will deal with my pain; we know each other well.