Country Music Artist, Craig Morgan wrote and performs a song titled, “The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost”. He performed it on the Grand Ole Opry stage on Memorial Weekend and was filled with such emotion you could tell it was deeply personal. The perspective of the song is that he lost his son and it was his faith that carried him through that dark time. It was a very moving performance and obviously inspiring enough for me to write about it.

To lose someone you love is difficult whether it was expected or not and at any age! However when it is unexpected, there is no time to prepare our hearts for it. I’m not saying it’s easier, but when a person is older or is suffering, there is time to process the end is near. We can find comfort in being able to say good-bye and make some memories before they pass. We have time to accept what is to come.

It’s sort of like a teen heading off to college and taking time to do their laundry every week, a little at a time. They can handle the small loads, a little at a time, making sacrifices of time in order to do the inevitable. Then to have someone close to you die unexpectedly is like that same teen bringing a semester worth of dirty clothes home and dropping the bomb on their parents when they come home. I know it is really NOTHING like this. My point is that there is a shock value to the unexpected and it hits us out of no where, unlike being able to deal with it over time, it is simply ‘dumped’ on us.

Also, it is expected that parents will out live their children. We tend to believe in a sort of ‘natural order of things’ to happen where only people who have lived full lives will pass. When parents lose their children, it’s especially difficult because as parents we feel we are supposed to protect our children from harm but we certainly can’t protect them from an accident or a serious illness. There are some things we cannot control nor see coming.

This is where I find comfort in the Holy Trinity. I will experience loss and struggle through hurt and pain but I know I won’t be alone through it. I know God sacrificed his Son. I know Jesus’ best friend died and that Jesus suffered horribly and also died. But he rose from the dead and promises the same for any who believe in him.

The hope I have that I am not alone is because of the experiences I read in scripture AND my faith tells me the Holy Spirit, God’s and Jesus’ Spirit, is with me. I believe it is how we are to understand that life is eternal; the Holy Spirit is here. It is a promise of a better tomorrow and a place with no suffering or pain, just rejoicing.