Month: February 2025

The following meditation was written by Dr. Michael B. Brown.

“Jesus said to her, `I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die’.” John 11:25 (Common English Bible)

If you live long enough, you will lose someone or something you love: a person, a home, a marriage or romance, a job, a pet. Even moving from one place to another involves the loss of a community of friends and a sense of belonging. So, what can we do when grief has us in its grips? Among other things, we can practice the fine (and healing) art of remembering.

(1) Things We Know From Those We Remember.

The New Testament book of Hebrews states: “We have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.” (Hebrews 12:1 CEB) They are there—the ones who taught us our most valuable life lessons. They remain around us and within us as long as the lessons we learned from them are remembered and applied. Your mom’s devotion to church, your dad’s commitment to family, your professor’s insistence on academic (and personal) integrity, your friend’s loyalty, your neighbor’s positive outlook—all those influences made (and continue to make) you what you are. The donors may no longer be present, but the impact they left behind lives on. And, thus, in a very real sense they live on, too. “We have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.”

(2) Things We Know For Those We Remember.

The Gospel of John tells of a promise Jesus made to Martha and Mary following the death of Lazarus (their brother). He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die.” (John 11:25) Only one chapter later, Christ made a promise to all his disciples. The NIV phrases it this way: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32) Jesus assured believers that his resurrection would not be a solitary journey but, rather, that he would take his friends with him. That’s what we know for those we have loved and lost. Beyond this life is another life where death shall be no more.

A clergy friend told me of a woman in his church who lost her husband and her son-in-law in an automobile accident. Her world was torn out from beneath her, leaving her understandably devastated. In time, however, as my friend put it, “she came back to life.” Psychologists call that “new normal” (the time when you have processed pain sufficiently to move forward again). He said she told him that the key for her were some words written by a friend who sent a sympathy note. The words simply said: “What feels like the end for you is a new beginning of unbroken joy for them.” “My love for them was stronger than my sadness for myself,” she told my friend. “I learned to embrace their new lives of unbroken joy.”

“We have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.” As long as we remember the love and lessons received from those who went before, they will live on in and through us. 

“Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die.” Those who we have loved and lost are not really lost at all. Instead, when Jesus made his journey home, he took them with him to new lives of unbroken joy.

Joy,

The following meditation was written by Dr. Michael B. Brown.

WE LAUGH TO KEEP FROM CRYING

There’s a lovely Presbyterian church not far from where we live that, on Wednesday mornings, has a study group called Laughter and Lamentations. What a great name for a class in this day and age! Some suggest (not just comedians, but psychologists and theologians, too) that sometimes, the more we hurt, the more we need to laugh. And there are always things to laugh about. Humor is not a denial of reality. It is, instead, a gift by which we cope with reality. That theme is beautifully explored in Dr. Susan Sparks’ book Laugh Your Way to Grace. (Woodstock, Vermont: Skylight Paths Publishing, 2010)

My mom (who from time to time battled depression during her life and who possessed a wild, and sometimes bawdy, sense of humor) often laughed her way to grace. She used to say, “We laugh to keep from crying.” The Bible frequently says pretty much the same. Job lost about as much as one can lose: family members, property, land, farm animals, the support of friends, and physical health. But, in the midst of almost indescribable suffering, as the NIV puts it, he was promised that in time God would “fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouts of joy.” (Job 8:21)In his Sermon on the Plain (Luke’s rendition of the Sermon on the Mount), Jesus talked about poverty, sorrow, and grief. But while dealing with those undeniable realities, He added, “Happy are you who weep now, because you will laugh.” (Luke 6:21) In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the word Easter literally means “God’s laughter.” Following the most dire and desperate of all the events in human history, the crucifixion of The Messiah on a Roman Cross, Easter came. The stone was rolled away. And according to that ancient liturgical tradition, the heavens were filled with the sound of God’s laughter, the boundless joy of knowing that sin and evil and death had no power anymore. We laugh to keep from crying. But even more, ultimately, we laugh because life wins. Love wins. God wins.

Norman Cousins’ best-selling book from years ago, Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient (New York: Norton Press, 1979), told of how he went into remission from a serious illness for which there was no known cure. For hours at a time, Cousins would lock himself away and watch films by the Marx Brothers and old episodes of Candid Camera. He belly-laughed as he viewed them. Laughter produces endorphins which, in his case, began to effectively battle the autoimmune disorder that was crippling him. Eventually, doctors were unable to find any trace of the disease whatsoever. Apparently, the Old Testament Book of Proverbs was correct when it wrote that, “A joyful heart helps healing.” (Proverbs 17:22 CEB) “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.” 

When things are stressful in my life, in addition to practices like prayer and journaling, I often watch videos by comedians like Leanne Morgan, Stephen Wright, and Martin Short as Giminy Glick, or I turn on the TV and watch old episodes of Andy Griffith or new episodes of Only Murders in the Building. “We laugh to keep from crying” because, in truth, humor really is good medicine. The Bible even prescribes it when stress or fear has us in its grips. We cannot (and should not) ignore the reality of human pain—our own or that of others. But in the midst of it, or perhaps at the end of it, the Book of Job promises that God will “fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouts of joy.” Or, as Jesus put it: “Happy are you who weep now, because you will laugh.” That may be the gift of grace we need sometimes just to survive. 

Joy,

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13 (New Revised Standard Version)

Confidence is such an important part of God’s desire for us, for our wholeness in life. It is really a form of positive energy that moves us forward. That great preacher of another generation, Norman Vincent Peale, identified a positive attitude as ‘power’ for meeting all of life’s challenges. Positive thinking or confidence is our equipment that increases the odds that things will turn out the way we hope they will. It is a matter of the mind—a matter of changing our reality by changing our focus.

The root of the word confidence is confide. Confide is derived from the Latin language by placing two words together, (con) which means, “with” and, (fide) which means “trust” or “faith.” Confidence has to do with trusting within a relationship with another. The apostle Paul is teaching here in Philippians that we are asked to place our trust in Jesus. As we do, the very strength of Jesus flows into us and strengthens us. Our confidence grows. God’s foundation for confidence is regularly spending time with Jesus so that we begin to know Jesus as intimately as a good friend or spouse. As that friendship with Jesus grows, the knowledge of how God intends to use us also grows. The knowledge of our life’s purpose then releases confidence that we are capable of anything when we trust Jesus’ strength coming alongside us.

A pastor and friend of mine is often identified as the Energizer Bunny. As someone once noted to me, Tom doesn’t walk into a room—he bursts into a room! His confidence comes from a close walk with his Lord. He knows God’s claim upon him and is aware of the gifts he has for ministry. This knowledge gives him poise and bearing. He can enter a room full of strangers and experience ease for the simple reason that he knows who he is—a man of God who trusts that God is with him in the moment. Consequently, strangers see his confidence and think, “Here is someone I am comfortable approaching because he is so comfortable with himself.” “Here is someone I want to approach because of his positive energy.” Tom’s presence in a room elevates the energy in the room for everyone. Tom is confident because of his close trust and walk with Jesus that is nurtured each day.

To build that kind of energy, that level of confidence, you must first own that you are uniquely made and like no one else. For years I wanted to be like my friend, Tom. The difficulty with that kind of thinking is that I never owned that I am uniquely made for a reason. The world is richer because Tom walks into rooms. But the world is also richer because of who I am—a quieter man who also walks into rooms and immediately identifies those standing in the margins. They are the ones I engage first. I introduce myself and ask them to share with me who they are. I listen to them and value them and watch their own sense of self-value begin to rise as a result. To witness this then strengthens my own confidence. Second, I stop telling myself that I don’t have the gifts of Tom, but that I do have gifts, and talents, and ability forged from years of ministry that add value to others. I stop selling myself short. Uniquely made and endowed with gifts that add value to my small part of the world—that is my bankroll. In relationship with Jesus, these are the things that bring confidence. These are the things that strengthen me.

Joy,

“But I know that my redeemer is alive, and afterward he’ll rise upon the dust … Whom I’ll see myself – my eyes see, and not a stranger’s.” Job 19:25-27 (Common English Bible)

A course I teach every semester at High Point University is entitled “Biblical Themes.” It’s designed to explore the great themes of our Judeo-Christian faith: Law, Grace, Sin, Salvation, the Centrality of Love, the Search for Meaning, Incarnation, Spirit, etc. One of the lectures is always about Theodicy (a theological consideration of the reality of suffering in a world governed by a good God). Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a book about that entitled Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? (New York: Shocken Books, 1981) It became a bestseller because the book’s title is a question almost everyone asks if they live long enough. 

Our classroom session on theodicy is always based on the Old Testament book of Job, a study in human suffering vis-a-vis the existence of a loving God. Job lost everything a person can imagine losing … except for his belief in God’s presence. He was grief-stricken, angry, confused, unsure why he had done his best in life and seemingly had been repaid with nothing but hurt and heartache. And yet, even when a loved one told him to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9), he did not give up his belief in the Divine. Mind you, he did feel that life was unfair. He did feel Covenant had not been honored, even though he had kept his end of it. He didn’t just glibly say, “It is what it is.” Job kept crying out “Why?” Suffering made no sense to him, as often it makes no sense to us. But amid questions for which he could find no answers, Job never let go of one fundamental belief: “I know that my Redeemer is alive ….” (Job 19:25)

When at last Job got his moment to pose his question to God about why he had suffered so seriously after having done his best, God answered, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundations?” (Job 38:4) It was not a curt or unkind response. Instead, it was God’s way of replying that even if the reason for suffering were explained to Job, no mere mortal could wrap his mind around it. Furthermore (and even more importantly), getting an answer to “Why?” wouldn’t change a single thing. If you could determine why an illness or accident took the life of a loved one, that knowledge wouldn’t bring the loved one back. It wouldn’t change anything. So, God helped Job understand that the important questions are not “Why?” but instead “What?” and “Who?” What do I do to survive? To move forward? What resources do I have at my disposal? What friends provide shoulders I can lean on? What inner strengths do I need to call to the surface? And, Who is God? Do I make God into the enemy who caused the pain or the ally who will help me survive and overcome it? Knowing why something happens doesn’t undo it. But knowing what steps to take and who is the God that promises to walk with you on the journey help one to survive it.

I remember hearing my friend Peter Rubenstein, a retired rabbi from New York City, say, “All that the Hebrews were called to do when the waters parted was to take the next step. They did so believing that God was walking with them. Sometimes taking the next step is all we can do, and it is enough.” His words were biblical and absolutely true. Just take the next step. You don’t have to heal in a day or a month or by any imposed calendar or guideline. Just take the next step, one step at a time, one day at a time, and trust that even when you don’t understand, still the One who loves you is walking with you – day by day, step by step. “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth … I myself will see him with my own eyes.”

Joy,