Seeing the Unseen

I cried on my way home from the memorial service. I could feel the weight of sadness turning into depression. I don't believe that I have to be held captive to the darkness that sometimes seems to haunt my thoughts, however, the death of a friend brings with it genuine sorrow. But the taste of tears does not have to make me a prisoner of depression.

How do I process the loss of a friend without being crippled by it? I believe the answer is found in the lens I choose to look through. If I only focus on what my physical eyes can see I begin to loose heart. But I have been invited to look at not only what is seen but what is unseen.  What I see now is temporary,  but what is unseen is eternal.

Ecclesiastes says, "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laugher,  for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,  but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth."(Ecclesiastes 7:2-4) My friend and I were the same age. Going to the house of mourning made me pause and consider the use of my days.

I have been given the treasure of eternal life but I hold it in a jar of clay. If I loose sight of eternity I am very tempted to despair. I am more and more aware that my outer person is aging but at the same time I choose not to give up but instead to take hold of the promise of life.  By God's grace my inner person is being renewed day by day as I choose to focus not on what is seen but on what is unseen.

Lord Jesus,  you wept at the grave of your friend and then called him to life. Please help me to see with my spirit what is hidden from my eyes. Thank you for showing me how to grieve but to hope at the same time.