Grieving over Death

Blindly she rushed through the woods. She didn't see the transparent green of the tree leaves. Didn't notice the way the sun filtered through the branches above. Didn't look at the signs of life all around her.

She didn't want to. She felt dead inside, shouldn't the rest of the world? She kept running, her legs pumping, her lungs finding it harder to draw breath.

She burst from the woods into a hidden meadow. She didn't stop until she reached the middle of the field. There she dropped to her knees and cried bitter, angry tears.

She lifted her face angrily to the sky. The sun glared in her eyes and she glared right back. "Why?" she yelled to the sky, " Why did it have to be someone that I loved that had to die? Why did You have to do this to me?" She railed on, then fell to the ground, surrounded by knee-high grasses, completely exhausted.

And she received her answer: "To see how you would respond," He said in a still, small voice.

She felt foolish. She had responded like a child who hadn't gotten his way. Then she heard His voice again. " I also have given up Someone I loved." He said, "And I gave Him for you."

She had stopped crying, but now the tears began again. These were different tears.

Tears of shame.

Tears of understanding.

Tears of thankfulness.