4 a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance; (Ecclesiastes 3:4 CSB)

A friend passed along this passage and a really good devotional to me yesterday.

I am mourning the loss of a friend and it is hitting me pretty hard. Not just because he was a friend, but maybe, because we were the same age.

This scripture, and the devotional (from He Reads Truth) teaches us that we can weep and laugh, mourn and dance at the same time. Being a typically positive person this loss has made me realize that I too, right now, am a bit fragile. There are a number of reasons for this and it is not something I like to admit. But I find myself thinking about it frequently.

I know that our God is big enough for my sorrow, my anger and my grief. He does not look upon me disprovingly because I am experiencing an emotion He gave me to experience.

To be honest, I realize my feelings are at least partially selfserving. Yes, I am missing my friend, and my heart goes out to his family. But, too, I am looking at myself and feeling some level of self-pity. I am letting this turn me inside myself to places I do not like to go.

Sometimes we experience times like these and God wants us to learn a lesson, even through tragedy. He wants us to see a part of ourselves that we may be avoiding.

He wants to teach us the, sometimes, duality of emotion. Teach us the ability to mourn and dance.