Life's Ecosystem

The heat wave had finally broken -- sweltering temperatures, replaced by invigorating mornings and balmy daytime breezes! Another work week over, bills had been paid, and with humidity's departure, joint pain had ceased as well. Now, birds chirped and the newness of morning broke through my once sleeping senses. Life was good. And yet, I felt something simply wasn't as balanced as it appeared. I was missing my Moosey. Tears fell.

Bishop (Moosey) and I were buds. He awoke with me every morning and climbed the wooden hill as I went to bed each evening. It had been less than three weeks since we'd said "goodbye," and morning was one of the times I missed him most. Spending the previous day with friends' dogs had been therapeutic. I'd stroked their soft fur and recounted stories, but now all those memories brought recently to the surface were lying there waiting to be grieved.

We were meant to grieve. Not that this world was designed with death and sadness in mind, but the emotions that are triggered during life's disappointments and torments were placed in us for those experiences. Grieving helps. Through grief we process what has happened and our feelings about it, and develop a way to move on in light of what has happened.

Recently, I asked a friend over for lunch. I want to talk and hang out with someone I like, but I also need to start something new. Bishop was an obstacle to having friends over; his over-protectiveness made things tense -- for everyone. I believe God can do something good with any awful circumstance, and I believe this is one of those ways I can move on in light of what has happened. Missing Bishop desperately, wishing he didn't have to go, but realizing good things don't stop happening just because he is no longer here is what grieving is all about.

One of the few things I remember from high school Physics is Newton's Third Law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Grief and Joy. We were made to joy. Joy is the way we combat the hardships of this life and move out of the grieving process. As the author of Ecclesiastes said, "To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." I could stay in grief, but grief is just a tool -- like a bandage and salve -- that helps us deal with the initial pain of loss. To stay in grief would give it the power to become as oppressive as last week's heat, usurping all joy, crippling me with pain, and eventually throwing my entire life out of balance. Joy is the lifting of the spirit, the squelching of pain, the filling up and refreshing of the soul, until the grief is overpowered and pushed on in our emotional ecosystem.

The heat will be back -- that's how an ecosystem works. But now, it's time to relish the warmth of the sun tempered by these cool, dry breezes. And to give thanks for grief that yields to joy, and the balance that God has designed for life.