Our greatest losses in life

Are loved ones, who've passed on,

Always hard to handle,

But harder when the order is wrong.

The pain of losing a lifetime mate

Is a crushing blow, at the least,

A terrible ache that won't dissipate,

That buckles the heart as the knees.

But what greater loss for parents,

Than a child born of their flesh,

Cut off an arm - cut out a heart,

Such pain would surely be less.

Many times I've heard it said,

And I think it must be so,

The greater the pain that one sustains,

The closer to God one grows.

No child, no parent, no mate,

Whoever has loved and been loved,

Can be as close to those who love him,

As to his God who loves from above.

While God wants no man to suffer,

Sometimes that is God's way,

To bring a man totally to Him,

By taking a loved one away.

When this happens, a man is given

A place for his sorrow to go,

As the Holy Spirit moves in,

And enters the grieving man's soul.

Assured of reunion in heaven,

And with peace now residing within,

One can handle such separation,

As a closer union with God begins.

© 2005 Virginia (Ginny) Ellis