Mark W. Holt's Journey

It is a busy time of year. There are stores to be shopped, turkeys to be basted, cranberries to be ground, pies to be made, tables to be set, and guests to be invited. There are ovens working overtime, people driving somewhere to dine, and the smell of pumpkin pie, while waiting for family and guests to arrive.

In the midst of this busy time, there is one guest that will visit your holiday feast that you may not intend. He will show up at your holiday gathering unannounced. He may come early, he may leave late. He will sit at your table and ruin the taste of the tender turkey sitting before you. He turns celebration into chaos and thankfulness into fear. He turns the holidays in to a dreaded nightmare instead of a festive celebration. You can try not to invite him, you can change your event location to out run him, you can slam the door in his face and not let him inside, but all of these things simply will not work… soon you will find. This uninvited guest is rude and he doesn't mind.

His name is Grief.

He is so clever that even if you ignore him and refuse to set a place before him at the table, he will sit like a heavy blanket. Soon, all of your guests will know of his presence, there is nothing you can do. You can try to ignore him, you can get angry and kick him out, you can show him a short route to the door, but he will stay so what is all of your effort for?

How do you deal with this intruder who threatens your joy?

The best thing you can do is invite him to your holiday celebration. Tell your guests he is there and let them meet him. Give him a moment of acknowledgement , talk about him and how invasive he is, coming early or arriving late. Then, once you have given him this one moment, gently show him the door. Don't let him stay too long, for if Grief is visiting your house, he will soon suck the air out of it. He has no end and may swallow you whole if you let him. He will prevent another guest from arriving, as Grief has been known to crowd out one of the most important guest you have coming to your home. You will want this guest to come, he is gentle and kind. He doesn't stay too long or arrive too early. He doesn't ruin the taste of food or make a festive event seem unbearable. He also doesn't come without being invited. He won't arrive when Grief is there, He comes exactly at the edge of Grief-

He is Hope.

Hope that one day grief will end. Hope that He will rub every tear from our eye. Our Hope that tells us this is not the end, this is not good bye.

At the very edge of our grief- therein lies our Hope.

Still miss you with much love and hope; Mark, Grandma, Uncle Ron, Linda, and Vera.