Losses

One day while having my hair cut, the new stylist told me about her experience with chemotherapy. She spoke of fear, hospital visits, feelings of anger and despair. When her treatment ended, she began to heal physically and emotionally. And that summer, she planted a garden. She said, ‘I knew nothing about gardening, but it was good  therapy. When my tomato plants bloomed, I was so happy; but when the blooms withered, I cried, not realising that small tomatoes were beginning to grow.  When they grew and ripened, we had homemade salsa all summer.’

Her words made me think of losses in our lives. When we’re young, it is easy to focus on hopes and plans; but later, we begin to lose one thing after another. Children grow up and leave home, jobs end, health fails, we lose friends. Eventually, we feel as if we have nothing left to lose. In time, however, we begin to see that God often replaces a loss with something new and unexpected: a friend who holds us up, a new interest to replace what we can no longer do, or perhaps compassion for others we would not have had without the loss. Loss is not God’s final word.

Prayer: Thank you, God, for your love, which will never let us down and gives us hope wherever life takes us. Amen