I can think of no other life event that makes you so acutely aware of being both body and spirit than the death of a loved one. Especially the death of your child.
Grief.
There’s a reason people call it gut wrenching and refer to the sufferers as brokenhearted. Your gut feels wrenched—grabbed, twisted and strangled. Your heart feels as though it has fractured into a million pieces that will never be patched back together in the right places again. And they really won’t.
The air feels as though it’s been vacuumed out of your lungs and you can’t breathe. Sometimes you feel as though you’ll suffocate. But that’s okay because you know death would be a welcome alternative to the hell you’re experiencing.
There’s a reason Scripture refers to the brokenhearted as having crushed spirits.
Your heart throbs with an indescribable pain that seems impossible, and impossible to bear. Somewhere deep in the core of your physical body lies your spirit that cries out in pain. If you could hear it on the outside, it would sound like a blood-curdling, glass-shattering wail. On the inside, the silent scream reverberates through your body, causing your heart to gush blood and your organs to convulse.
Even your brain gets involved, dumping chemicals into the nervous system that send your spirit into a state of terror and your body into rebellion. Your nerves sound an alarm of impending destruction. You’re unraveling from the inside out, until there’s nothing left to unravel.
Then you lie wasted, unresponsive to sensations and disinterested in life.
Nothing can make you feel so old and physically and emotionally wasted as the death of a loved one. Look at a grieving person and you can recognize the dull look in their eyes. The light of life—from within—has vanished.
Grief.
There is nothing like it to make you aware of how much body you are and how intertwined it is with your spirit or soul. They are inseparable while your body pumps blood and your brainwaves function.
When you encounter a grieving person, remember that their body is hurting just as much as their spirit, and it, too, needs attention and care.
Blessings,
Andrea
May you prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers (3 John 2).
(Free-for-All Fridays will be on hiatus until October 12. I’m on a pilgrimage to discover and experience the body and soul waltz. See you next month!)
Photo by Christian Newman on Unsplash