SCRIPTURE The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. Ecclesiastes 7:4 ESV
THOUGHT At a party, I shift into a different gear. I become hyper-aware of little insecurities I’m usually not, and put on the smile — you know the one. Sometimes I even trade the security in Christ I normally feel for image management as I chat and laugh and play the part.
At a funeral, however, loss lowers my guard as I encounter broken reality. I feel vulnerable, and unmasked, setting aside my well-crafted fairy tales that time, pain, health, or life is under my control.
I can’t make a good impression on death. In its’ presence, I come face to face with often frightening, sometimes inexplicable loss, and if I dare linger, fighting the urge to run, I find fellowship and hope in the midst of pain. I’m in the presence of others who share my loss and vulnerability.
A funeral done well encourages us to live differently, and that is why Solomon says the house of mourning has more wise hearts than the house of mirth. If we allow ourselves to be authentic, we are more at home “in the circle of the broken,” as songwriter Sue Smith once penned, than the noisy bar, crowded dance floor, or endless hustle of the “house of mirth.” This circle is where Jesus ministered, and he saved his harshest words for those who pretended to have it all together. It is the place we will receive ministry because it is there we will dare to drop our guard, confess our need, and feel enfolded by the loving arms of others who’ve faced loss and found hope.
PRAYER Father, give us enough funerals to teach us to number our days, and enough resurrections to keep our hope in what is most true, firmly alive.
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Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
Check out Walking When You’d Rather Fly, and learn more about the book and Amy’s other ministries. You will also find her devotional work at Words of Hope.
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