the filling

This Tuesday I will have my annual dental checkup.  Generally it amounts to a fine cleaning, and possible x-rays.  Once in a while they have found a cavity!  That's a disappointing outcome, but I can be grateful that the right people have located the problem and know what to do about it...they schedule me for a filling to be formed and fitted to seal the cavity and prevent it from spreading or becoming the source of infection.  I was thinking this morning about grief...catastrophic grief...the kind of grief that is like a cavity in your heart and soul.  There is no escaping this kind of grief at times, like the recent events in New England...or the loss of a loved one in your own family.  It occurred to me that this kind of loss creates a huge cavity and who could there be to fill it?  Certainly with the passage of some time the pain may ache slightly less, but there can be no replacement or filling that is identical with the loss.  The loss has been of life and of that which is most precious and personal.  The loss has altered the present and the future and we may not even be sure of our own identity.  I can think of only one filling that is appropriate.  The Lord, Himself, would not replace or return the loss...but He would fill it with Himself.  No one else understands how personal, how great and how extensive is this cavity.  No one else understands better the impact of life and loss.  Our appearance will be forever changed when we suffer this kind of loss but our filling will be our comfort, our protection and our restoration to function again and anew.

Psalm 43:2,3 For you are God, my only safe haven.

    Why have you tossed me aside?
Why must I wander around in grief,
    oppressed by my enemies?
³ Send out your light and your truth;
    let them guide me.
Let them lead me to your holy mountain,
    to the place where you live.

blessings,

Rob Smith