Years ago, Helen Keller shared, "When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us." So often during the season of Lent we discover that we seem to adopt a mindset that we must spend our time "giving up something," or "turning away" from some habit. While this can be a positive thing for some, for others, it can also be the start of something else. God's desires for each of us include experiencing joy, happiness, and love, among other things. While some of our choices may keep us from fully realizing that these are essential touchstones of our faith, living out our faith does indeed also involve sacrifice, discipline but also restoration! The power of the cross leaves an image of suffering and death, and for some, that is often where the image of God ends. I have known people who feel that since Christ suffered, that somehow, they believe that by some circumstance, we too must suffer. On the same note, I also know people who hate this image, and that they can't wait until Easter morning to cry out to others, "He has risen." Both are important if we are going to experience the fullness of the Gospel. We must have death if there is going to be resurrection. We must have the resurrection if we are going to have eternity. While we continue to make our way through this season of Lent, don't find yourself getting caught in staring at doors that have been closed with new choices, or when turning back, also be sure to recognize the open window, allowing the light of God's love to shine. The restorative power of God is really what Lent is about. It is the still small voice within each of us, calling us to be who God wants us to be. Stay in God's grip! Todd Copyright 2024 G. Todd Williams Dear God, help me not to forget that when I find that I am sacrificing or surrendering to Your desires for my life, that You are also restoring and creating within me the love, hope and joy that You have for me. Amen.
While we continue to focus inwardly during the season of Lent, one thing that I realize is that for many folks, there also becomes the issue of loss and grief.
In the church we don't actually ever really speak about death and loss. We talk a whole lot about surrender, and sacrifice, but rarely do we talk about the one thing we will all experience, and that is death. Don't get me wrong. We have that ONE day... Good Friday... but the next day is generally silent as Christ lays in the tomb, and then we are ecstatic to announce that "He is risen." For each of us there can be, and let's face it, there are real losses in our lives. There is not any one of us immune from death. I saw one of my beloved professors this past weekend at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. When I asked how he was doing, he told me he had an incurable disease. I stopped right where I was standing and looked him in the face. "I'm experiencing incurable aging that will kill me one day." I don't know of any of us who have not thought about our own death. Many have shared that they aren't afraid of dying. It's the process they worry about. The church reminds us that if we live a good life, helping others, and loving one another, that our life will be filled with many blessings, but the fact of the matter is, we will still experience losses and like our friends and family, we will die one day as well. Having suffered a serious illness several years ago now, I lived every day with the knowledge that I could possibly die. There was a popular song on the radio at that time that reminded folks to live every day as "if you are dying." You don't tell people with a terminal illness to live every day as if they are dying. They already know that. Instead, live every day as if you are truly living! While I acknowledge our need to talk about death, there is the living with that death when we not just faced with our own losses, but for those around us who have experienced loss. There has been a lot of books written on what to tell others when someone close to them has died. I wish that I could say that there are perfect words to express, but sometimes there are simply no words. Upon arriving at the tomb where the friend of Jesus laid, "Jesus wept." There were no words. In our understanding of loss, sometimes our outward expression of being sorry is simply enough. The language of our hearts can often be spoken in silence, with hand holding, and with tears. We begin the journey of Lent with these words, "From dust you were created, and dust you stall return." May our losses be surrounded by the love of Christ, and may we use that love with one another. Stay in God's grip! Todd Copyright 2024 G. Todd Williams
There really is no book, outline, or correct way to grieve. Years ago while I was completing my fellowship at M D Anderson Cancer Center, my supervisor talked to me about the grief I was experiencing.
My stepmother had died the previous year from leukemia following a somewhat brief illness. Although I knew that I was grieving her loss, I couldn't understand some of the things that I was feeling and how I was reacting to some things going on in my life. He shared with me that "I can direct you to a ton of self-help books, including books on grief, the steps of grief, and how to recognize grief, but I can't necessarily tell you HOW you must grieve, and how to get through this." To this day, I really don't know what answer I was hoping to receive. There is simply no correct way to grieve. It wasn't until a year later that I realized as another anniversary passed without her presence in my life that I suddenly realized that she was never coming back. After another year of wanting to pick up the phone and call her to tell her something my children had done, or to ask her thoughts on something, while even the home that my parents resided had been sold, I had to accept this reality and somehow "let it go" as some friends had advised. I couldn't. It was at that point I realized that for some things in our lives, grieving is a life-long process. It's not that I don't manage her memory better, and instead of getting depressed at the the thought of her passing, I instead focus on the person and how thankful that I am to have had her in my life. So often our grief over the loss of something creates our own "valley of the shadow of death," that we find it hard to move through it. David after loosing a child, tries to return to a "normal" life, while taking time to be present for his wife. The loss shared by these two, would be a reminder to each of us that when we have suffered loss, the need for one another must be realized. We all grieve and we are reminded to turn that which we mourn into a type of dance. While there isn't always a clear place and time to point to when this happens, we can always invite God to help us. Hoping that each of us may learn to dance while we mourn our losses. Stay in God's grip! Todd Copyright 2024 G. Todd Williams
Last summer when the James Webb telescope suddenly started sharing photos that none of us could have imagined about what our universe looks like, I suddenly began to imagine what it means to be a child of God in the universe.
When I began to realize just how complex the universe actually is, and that there is absolutely no way for us to fathom just how "big" the universe is, I sat back and simply thought, "God, you are amazing." For so many, the understanding of eternity can really cause one to sit and ponder, and then to add the question, "How large is the universe?" It can cause one to almost cave! For me, I still remember back to when I was seven years old, and being told by my pastor, Rev. Mangold, that "Todd, no matter what, I hope you know that Jesus will always love you." I had forgotten his words to me until I had COVID and found myself face to face with my own mortality. All of a sudden the size of the universe and the timelessness of eternity was met by my own faith, or lack of. I let my own wandering interfere with the journey. I had forgotten that eternity for me began the moment I believed and trusted in Jesus. When Rev. Mangold told me that Jesus would always love me. In that moment it was as if I were seven all over again, and I believed. The pictures from the Webb confirmed just how God loves each of us, to consider the size of the universe, with a vast number of galaxies, I suddenly didn't feel alone, or that God did not know me. If anything, I realized the importance that each one of us has in the creation. I no longer "worried" if God knew I was here, or if eternity would pass me by. I was already living fully into the heart of God. The Jesus that I was told would always love me still was true today, and that eternity began for me over fifty years ago when I simply believed. I love that Jesus shares that there are "other sheep not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd." Heaven, like the universe, will be vast, and full of surprises! Stay in God's grip! Todd copyright 2024 Rev. G. Todd Williams  "From ashes you were created, and to ashes you shall return..." I have been absent for some time now. As today marks the beginning of Lent, I have decided that my Lenten journey will include getting back into the discipline of writing each day.
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AuthorRev. G. Todd Williams is the author of the book, "Remember Me When..." (Chalice Press, August 2021) and is a former hospice chaplain. Archives
May 2025
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