Moments of Quiet Truth

     Daniel's due date was a week and a half ago and today is the first time I've had the opportunity to sit and process it.       The loss of my son has forced me to face so much of how I was raised to process my emotions. I've also been faced with what God says about those emotions, where He is when I experience them, and whether or not He approves of them.      As a young child, I was taught that emotions like anger and others that were deemed 'unpleasant' had no place in the life of a christian. Because they were not acceptable in the christian society and culture in which I was raised, therefore, God did not approve of them either. He was the reason they were not acceptable because there were so many Scriptures warning against the improper use of them. They were sinful. If a believer struggled being angry at God or was walking through depression or discouragement, then there was either sin or something wrong with that believer that ...

      The title of this post is the title that an essay written by Jeff Foster in his book, "The Joy of True Meditation: words of encouragement for tired minds and wild hearts." A synopsis of the essay/article is that being present (without trying to 'solve the problem,' take away the discomfort, fix the person) is more helpful to those who are hurting than empty words or lectures or '-isms' or cliche's about God's sovereignty are. There is a time and place for truth, but Proverbs, for example, is full of instructions for those wishing to provide comfort to those who are hurting. Not only what you say, but also when and how you say it are huge. Sometimes, the best thing to do is to keep your mouth shut.       Something that is lost, many times, by those who seek to provide comfort is the ability to just BE with the person without feeling the need to 'make it all better.' Those of us who are grieving are in this state of grief much longer than t...