Mourn. What does it mean to mourn? People often use the word mourn in times of sadness and despair. We use it at funerals, hospital beds, and moments of complete helplessness. When we are faced with death -- be it a literal or figurative death -- we are left empty. A part of our reality feels stolen and robbed. The things that seem insignificant before are now tugging at our hearts. The way we see the world changes, and inevitably, we will change as well. But mourning is so much more than just a personal sadness or grief. The word mourn in Greek means "to lament". Lamenting is not a crying-in-the-corner sadness or the tears-in-your-pillow-at-night sadness, lamenting is public display of deep distress. Back in the old days, people tore their clothes in agony and wore sackcloth. It was a public display of very private emotions. It is seeing and understanding how broken our world is and being heartbroken because of it. It is seeing injustice and feeling hopeless. When we look at the statistics of how many people live without clean water, how many people die of starvation, how many people are sold into slavery, how many people die because of diseases and cancer, it is not hard to feel hopeless in these situations. We think to ourselves, "This isn't right. Things should never be this way." Those are the things we mourn over.
"Things should never be this way..."
The pain that we feel when we see the world as it is, is excruciating.
We are a single being in this gigantic world.
What are we to do other than mourn for the world?
Where is this comfort that we seek?
What kind of comfort can ever cover the amount of pain and suffering that happens in this world?
The reason for the verse above is because there is an offering of hope. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." The word blessed here translates to this notion of happiness. In other words, happy are people who mourn because they WILL be comforted. Those who mourn can rejoice because there is hope and because of that hope, they have an escape from their despair. In the same way, that mourning is not only on the personal level. This comfort is also beyond our individual comfort. This verse isn't only about making one person feel better, it is about hope for the entire world. It is not only the restoration of people but of the world itself. Therefore, it is so right to say that things should never be the way it unfortunately is right now but that isn't the end. Comfort comes from the promise that this world will be healed. Whether or not you believe in a God does not change the fact that people in this world are actively trying to make this world a better place. As cliche as that sounds, there is hope all around us. In science, we have the pursuit for the cure for cancer. Non-profit organizations and charities that station themselves to provide food, clean water, and medicine for those who need it. People who donate their time, their resources, and even their lives to make sure that no child or person will have to suffer as he/she did. People who give themselves up for the greater well-being of the world. Be it physical, mental, emotional, and/or spiritual healing, we all need to be rescued. The world needs hope and we have the ability to share the hope that we've received. The comfort we feel should move us to bring that same comfort to other people. Be it a temporary comfort or an eternal comfort, there is hope for this world and good news is, it is already in this world. Hope is in the individual who understand first the hopelessness and second the promise of comfort. As idealistic and utopian this may sound, I believe that to be true. There is hope in this world and there will be a day where pain is no more, tears are no more, and those who mourn will forever be comforted.
-Charlie
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