Turning Toward Life
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“Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Mary turned toward Jesus and said in the Jewish language, “Rabboni.” (This means Teacher).” John 20:16
My garage is half full of the items the previous owner did not want. I agreed to store them until the “Trash to Treasure” sale at the Church, but they are becoming overwhelming to me. It is time to purge them from my home and all the items that I do not want or like and clean the garage. It is time to start over and create my space into something different that defines me in this season of life. I even went through my closet and asked myself on each item, “Do I like this? Do I even wear it? Does it make me happy?” If not, it went into a bag to donate. It is time to let go.
The stuff of this world can control us and keep us from taking steps into life. It may seem overwhelming, and you have no clue where to begin. I believe it is difficult to deal with the stuff when we do not know who we are in this chapter of life. We do not know what we like, so how can we decide whether to keep something or donate it? We first, need to figure out who we desire to be. In grief, we recognize we are different. Life has changed. We look at life differently and therefore, look at what we possess in a new way. We also, look at relationships differently.
In our grief, we have tried to live in the memories of the past. We treasure possessions to keep these memories active and alive. We sit in our husband’s favorite chair. We smell our wife’s perfume. We stay surrounded by our past hoping it will bring comfort to our pain and loneliness. It takes time to grieve. We need to remain in the place of comfort until it becomes uncomfortable. Until we desire to live and experience more life. How does this even seem possible? How do we turn toward life?
I believe in our sorrow and grief it is difficult to see Jesus standing before us just like Mary Magdalene did not see Jesus. Mary was grieving at the tomb and did not expect Jesus to be alive. But when Jesus called her name, she turned toward Jesus and truly saw Him. Do you see Jesus in your grief? In your daily life?
We do not expect Jesus to walk with us on our grief journey. All we see and feel initially is pain, sorrow, heartache, and hopelessness. We feel that our life has ended. This is when Jesus calls to us to turn toward Him and allow Him to comfort us and be our companion on the journey. And like Mary, we will find life if we turn toward Jesus.
To turn toward life is to find a new purpose and meaning to your life. It is finding who you are and that life does move forward. It is believing that God is still good, and God still loves you and wants you to live. It will not be the life you thought it was going to be, but it will be a life in which Jesus is present. Turning toward life is an intentional decision. It is choosing to live not exist, to hope and to believe that a new chapter of life is possible.
Turning toward life involves a release of the life we had when we felt whole and complete. It is a closure to making any more memories in that chapter of life. It is embracing that love and life as our foundation on which we can now develop a different life. It is turning to Jesus and allowing Jesus to walk us through into this next chapter of life. Turn toward life and begin living in moments. Live in the present.
