After the Death of a Loved One – Sunday, October 17, 1982
It seems incomprehensible to those who mourn the death of a loved one that the world keeps turning, that shops are open for business as usual, that newspapers and bills are still delivered, that neighbors and friends continue on their casual way. This is especially true for those who lose a partner in marriage, a companion through long decades of growing and changing. When death takes a spouse, much of our own life also dies, leaving us withered and unwilling to continue. Even with the healing hands of time, some are never able to fully overcome the traumatic and awesome effect of their spouse’s passing. Theirs, unfortunately, is a world of pulled window shades and mementos from the past, a world where the present and the future are non-existent.
But there are others who with time rise from the ashes of this human tragedy to become even better and stronger, not in forgetfulness of the past, but in appreciation for the future, in gratitude for each new day of life which provides another opportunity to experience, to enjoy, to serve.
These are some examples: One widow from a small western town began sharing her gift for candy making with friends and relatives. Now whenever the need for encouragement or cheer arises, her delicate candies, symbols of her own kind nature and disposition are sure to appear.
A retired math teacher who lost his wife some time ago now spends much of his time as a volunteer in an alternative high school. It is a rough neighborhood; the students in the program are outcasts and dropouts. But where others may have failed, he is succeeding. And in so doing he is enriching the lives of his students as well as his own.
And finally, a widow of only short duration now enters the doors of a local hospital almost daily to assist wherever help is needed, with paperwork, with the small chores of medical care, or with a more important task for which she is eminently qualified: to sit, quietly, lovingly with those who wait as she once waited.
The list is endless; countless men and women have risen from despair and bewilderment to bless the lives of others. Theirs is the knowledge that human life consists of human service, and that a meaningful life and service to others are one and the same.
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October 17, 1982
Broadcast Number 2,774