The moment grief descends and the purpose beyond it

For some it’s a dream come true that the merry-go-round stops.  But for others, just on the odd occasion, there is a devastating loss, a crunch time comes, a straw that breaks the camel’s back, where the mind stops, the body is rendered immobile, and shocking, inexplicable numbness disbelievingly overwhelms the moment — like one trauma too many, depression that descends with a crash, a panic attack with no warning, or the mind is triggered into freeze mode.

These are seriously scary and foundational moments.  They linger as a core memory for the rest of our lives, and they will often be a source for where therapy must go as we seek to make meaning from trauma.

Moments like these can characterise an entire season and these seasons can remain much longer than we would ever imagine.  When you’re stuck in a period of heartache that seems to have no end, it can test your hope, and despair easily runs ahead to finish the race first.

When such a thing occurs what we’ve lost most is touch with that wonderful old life, and we do consider it wonderful because, no matter how much it wasn’t wonderful, it is wonderful in our memory compared with the torture of the present.

With all this said, we might wonder if ANY good could come from such grief that comes from loss.  There is a liberating reality but this happen is a delayed reality.

It takes months, indeed years, for the purpose in suffering to revolve full circle.

It happens that we can use the experience in terms of empathic expression months, perhaps years later, and the best news, for the rest of our lifetime.

Having traversed the pain of having had our life stop us dead in our tracks becomes a possession.

And just like we were blessed by the shared experience of someone else’s previous devastating experience, where we received what can only be described as a divine care through them, and it was probably more than one encouraging voice, we are placed in someone else’s path who has encountered that moment when their world stopped.

See how others were a blessing so we could be a blessing to others.  It’s the purpose in pain as we learn to heal and then encourage others on their journey.