If I Could Only Lift Your Pain

If I Could Only Lift Your Pain
Peggy Mack
August 30, 2013

On this morning of August 30, 2013 I am deeply aware of the grieving hearts of others.  Facebook, a 21st century form of communication, has opened my world to the awareness that we have new ways of making a positive difference in others' lives.  However, in that level of caring, we can also become aware of the burdens others have in life and feel helpless and hopeless in making a true difference.  In recent months, I have learned to form my morning prayer list based on the needs and requests of others and I hold them in my heart.

Today, on this one single Saturday alone, nearing the end of summer, I am acutely aware of so many who are grieving today.  They have experienced great loss of a loved one and feel immense sadness.  It is in those moments, I see how little a few typed words can do to help in the comforting of those whose hearts are broken.

Three of my friends will be attending funerals today for someone so dear to them that they cannot imagine life without them.  Three of my friends or acquaintences are still deeply grieving for someone who was their world and they no longer have them to be near each day.  And finally, one of my dear friends has lost two beloved pets within a few short weeks for medical reasons and parted with them in the office of a veterinarian.  It is such a public, cold, sterile place for one to say good-bye to a precious companion and imagining the depth of sadness feels like a gigantic, rogue wave washing over them.

What can I possibly say or do that has any effect on today's happenings for them? What do I do with all this grief?  Having known grief in the loss of several beloved persons in my life and the loss of a beloved pet, I have a true sense of their thoughts and feelings this week.  I am connected to them with an empathetic heart.  But sympathy and empathy only soothe in the moment and do little else to lift the burden of heartache.  An old hymn began singing in my mind's memory, "Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows bear?  We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer."

While holding them each and all in prayer, words came to me in poetic form.  You see, I don't always write in prose, though it has, in recent months, become my favorite form of expression.  Once in awhile, the heart leads its way with a poem.

For those whom I love....whose hearts are heavy with grief today.....know that you are in my prayers.....and I walk with you in love.

If I Could
Peggy Mack  
August 29, 2013

If I could lift your pain away
I would carry it beyond the seas,
the stars, the moon and leave it
far into the universe's night.

If I could mend your broken heart
I would soothe it with my perfect words
the touch of healing filling my fingertips
As you feel their healing power.

If I could comfort you with words
I would find the perfect thought and phrase,
Erase this weight of life's sad state
And replace it with pure love and grace.

Oh it is......
in times like these
 I sense the limits of my power....
and through your loving friendship
I have learned...
within these moments
of helplessness
I find my power...
not within my own life's walls...
but in God's precious power.

I cannot lift your pain away,
mend your broken heart
or comfort you from a distance...
but God can...
and He does....
He hears your prayers....
He feels your needs.....
and blesses you...beyond belief....
and whispers to your heart......
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.

"I cried out to you O Lord. I begged the Lord for mercy. You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent." ~Psalm 30:8,11-12~