We returned from our break on Sunday evening, rested and grateful, and ready to start a new week filled with plans! We had the kids in holidays for another week, Fernanda was in a break between classes and placements, and I was looking forward to restart our Catch up times, meeting with friends, preparing the HSC exams for Richmond Christian College, having a Zoom catch up with the Propel Network, preparing the online and the Sunday services, working on sermons… and then Fernanda got sick. What looked like a bug became something else and as I write these lines on a Wednesday morning, she is doing a COVID test while the rest of the family is in isolation. Not the holidays the children expected, but Isabella is enjoying the time to read another book… Meetings were cancelled (apart from the Zoom meeting!), but the service preparations are going ahead with the hope that the results will come soon, and that we will be able to see you on Sunday!

But the fact that we are dealing with this test and the consequential isolation is a reminder that while we have been blessed with a safe and beautiful place, the situation remains problematic all over the world- not even the self-appointed leader of the free world is safe! And yet, many people seem to prefer to live in a state of denial- maybe hoping that if we don’t give this issue attention it will cease to exist! It is not something new, of course… most of us have a hard time facing daunting realities. We try as much as we can to avoid dealing with some aspects of life that remind us that our time on earth is finite. From billions of dollars spent in cosmetic surgeries to try to look younger, to more money spent in new clothes with the hope that they will make us look younger, to living lives as if we were invincible when we are young to thinking that we can make our life last longer if we build our little empires… we avoid, deny, pretend… and yet the reality of our limited time on this earth is undeniable. Still, some of us carry on with the attitude that is described as “whistling through the graveyard.”

This attitude is defined as attempting to stay cheerful in a dire situation, or to proceed with a task ignoring an upcoming hazard hoping for a good outcome. Others refer to it as to enter a situation with little or no understanding of the possible consequences. I believe all those definitions can be found in our attitude in the face of death. Some of us have been taught, even in churches, to deny negative feelings as sadness- so when we are facing situations that lead us to sadness, we try to get out there as soon as possible. When we are faced with the unexpected diagnostic, the bad news, the wrong turn of events, we try to make it through with a smile, but we never really process what is happening. We go ahead with a sense of hope for the desired outcome, sometimes at the cost of reality. It is different to have faith that God can change a situation than to deny the seriousness of the circumstances in the hope that they will disappear. Faith embraces reality and believes for change.  Many times, we say things to people going through hard situations, through painful mourning periods, that reveal our lack of understanding of what they are going through, of the real consequences of what we are expressing with words even when our heart intentions are good. Phrases like “heaven won another angel”, or “they are in a better place”, are filled with great intentions and come from a good heart, but usually don’t do much in order to comfort someone who is feeling the loss of a loved one- their pain needs to be validated, not put into perspective, which will come later, at the right time. Maybe that is why the second beatitude of the Sermon of the Mount seems poignant and inspiring, eye-opening and soul-calming all at once, packed with reality and also with faith… “Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted.”

By referring to those who are in mourning, Jesus is addressing the fact that in this life we will be confronted by the reality of death. Not only of the physical death of our bodies, but the death of seasons, of dreams, of others, of possibilities… and not just that, but also the reality that every sense of change brings along a sense of mourning, because with every change something is lost, something will never be the same again, and therefore we mourn the loss of what was before, of what we had, of what we were able to do… the loss of what could have been. Jesus invites us to face the darkest days of our lives with one certainty: God is there with us through it all. And because God is there with us, we can experience comfort from the one that understands us better than anyone- the one who knows the depths of our souls. When we face death and loss we cannot deny anymore, we cannot pretend anymore. Reality becomes overbearing, and it’s on those moments that our faith in a living God, who understands loss because he suffered it, is able to sustain us. We don’t need to deny reality because our God is our deeper connection with truth.

And sometimes truth hurts. Sometimes reality is painful. Sometimes life is simply confusing.  There are moments that our sadness and brokenness becomes all too real and is on those moments that true faith is separated from wishes or hopes or desires. Faith embraces the challenge, faith endures the test, faith connects the plans of God with our struggles and provides a bigger picture to help us through. But even more important, when we embrace the reality of our loss or our pain or our struggle… we are opening ourselves to the blessing of being comforted. Of knowing God’s care in the midst of our pain and God’s grace when our strength is gone. Because… if there is nothing wrong we don’t need comfort. If we are strong enough we don’t need grace… but when we embrace truth, instead of pretending or denying or simply hoping, we are declaring that we know that the circumstances we find ourselves are real and yet, we know that God is right there with us. Not avoiding the storm. Not waiting to find us after the storm. But right there in the middle of the storm with us.

The people listening to Jesus at the mount knew mourning all too well. They knew oppression and hunger, disease and poverty, they knew brokenness and confusion. But they were told to try harder, to believe harder, to endure the pain because that would make them better. They never heard of a God who comforts. A God who embraces. A God that understands. And I believe this message is more needed today with urgency. As community, as society, as generation, as congregation, we have lost so much this year. We have lost precious time together that we won’t recover, we have lost many possibilities that won’t return, and we have lost people that while we believe we will see them again, right now are missing from our lives and that… that hurts. Our children don’t understand the consequences of the breakdown in the economy that they’ll suffer later, we don’t fully understand the mental health issues that will come out of these months in later years. We have lost more than 1 million people worldwide, and many more are still recovering. As I write these words my mind goes to my parents who I won’t be able to see soon and that I’m not sure I’ll see again in this life. We all lost someone, something, we are all mourning in different ways. Changes have happened beyond our control and many of us are wondering if the exchange will be worthy at the end. In other words, we all need comfort. We all need grace. We all need a God who see us. And that message is worth sharing. For way too long people have heard about the laws and principles and values of Christians… Maybe it’s time that they hear about the God who loves, who cares, who understands. A God who knows how to comfort. The God that you know, that you love and that you adore. May His love and peace be with you every step of the way!