Grief Releasing to Life
/
“The Lord sent me to comfort those whose hearts are broken, to tell the captives they are free, and to tell the prisoners they are released.” Isaiah 61:1
I visited the wildlife reserve center in Punta Gorda last year. The facility has birds of all types that have been injured and nursed back to health. Sometimes the birds are released back into their natural habitat while others never fully recover enough to be released. Some injuries like a missing leg or a damaged wing are beyond repair and prevent the birds from surviving in nature. They need to remain in the safety of the wildlife center where they are given tender care the rest of their lives.
I have been pondering the word “release.” To be released means to allow or enable to escape from confinement, to be set free. In grief, we feel the burden and confinement of our feelings and emotions due to loss. The loneliness and emptiness of our lives confines us – keeps us stuck. We feel like we are just going through the motions of the dailyness of life and attempt to find a routine in it. It is something and the basic tasks of life get accomplished most of the time.
We fear taking steps forward. We are afraid we will leave the memories and love of our loved one behind. The grief has been consuming, but we just do not want to keep reliving the pain and heartache. We know we will never forget our loved one, but we would like the grief to be over. We are not sure how to live, but we know existing in the grief continuously is overwhelming.
As we attempt to keep close to God on this journey, we know God will not bring back our loved one. We accept that they have been released from the suffering and pain of this world. They are free of the burdens of earth and now dwell in the peace of Heaven. When we release our loved one to Heaven, it takes time to release living constantly in the past and the grief. We want to remember. We always will remember them because they are a part of who we are.
On this journey, we release ourselves to live. We desire not to dwell in the intensity of grief. This is just existing in the past. God wants to free us from the guilt, pain and sorrow of the past. This release is a freedom to live again and maybe love again. The release is to be set free from the confinement of existing. It is actually living in the present. Living in the moments of each day. It is attempting to find who you are now.
It is also a release of the guilt feelings that occur in our grief. The guilt that we get to live and begin a new life and our loved one died. We forget that our loved one is living a new life in Heaven. Therefore, if they are living, we need to live too. Guilt sneaks into our hearts too when we try taking steps into living and into relationships. It whispers, “You will forget your loved one if you take this step.” Tell guilt it is a liar. Your loved one is part of your foundation that holds you up. The relationship is complete on earth and therefore, we can build our lives on the foundation and legacy of that relationship. It does not hold us back but gives us a firm footing to take steps into life.
Grief can become a prison. Like the injured birds, we stay in the familiarity of grief. The pain and sorrow have become our way of life. The desire to be set free is in tension with the pull to remain in the grief. This tension keeps us from being released. Our release comes through the Spirit that dwells in us. God takes us by the hand each step and many times brings others to comfort us. God works through other people to see hope and life. Living and finding meaning and purpose in what you now have is the hope of the journey. This hope begins to emerge as we release the grief and step into the path of living.
