The Funeral

The funeral. Seeing her mum sob, then weep, and then burst into wailing, it was heart-wrenching. And my heart was deeply moved. I wondered why I also felt like crying too, even though I didn't know her son personally.

But realised that it's because she loved her son, and now her son is dead and gone, wheeled into those solemn doors to be cremated. And once the doors close, they are closed for ever, never to be opened again. For Death's doors open only one way.

Yes, Jesus did open the doors the other way before. But at present... the doors are still there, for He hasn't come back yet with His key.

Hands that rocked a cradle, now embrace a coffin. Hands that opened a child's eyes to awake, now close these eyes to sleep. Hands that opened the door for him in joy, now close the lid for him in grief.

Then it struck me. This is also how God feels for each and every one of us. We are not alone in our griefs and sorrows. He really understands. "No father should have to bury his own son." And yet even He went through that experience.

Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.

And I realised this is how much God loves us. Not because of any achievements or anything we've done. Nothing to do with our characters or talents. Not even if we were the kindest or best people on earth. But his heart simply aches for us, simply because we are his children. Like how a mother grieves for the child of her womb, simply because he is her son. No more, no less.

Wow. God's unconditional love and compassion. Thank God for his Spirit in me, that enabled me to feel the same way that He did - only that while I feel for a single soul, He feels for untold trillions of people, from the first man to the last man, from the first war, to the last of all wars. His heart is just so unimaginably big.

"For God SO loved the world, that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."