Social media has a way of messing with me. Many of us have encountered a loss with a Facebook page that goes on into infinity. For me, those pages are a place to go for tribute and sweet remembrance. They pop up in my feed when I or someone who loved them posts a memory. On one hand I feel sad on another I feel comforted. The holidays are a hard time to be grieving.
This past week social media pulled an unexpected awkward moment. She popped in a social media feed encouraging me to invite her to join. My heart skipped a beat. I flurry of emotions from sadness to embarrassment ran through my body when many things started running through my mind. The vast internet doesn’t know she’s gone. Should the internet know? Should her footprint be wiped away? What about those who don’t know she’s gone? How many unknowing phone calls have her parents had to endure? The list goes on. This all unraveled in a matter seconds.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that I didn’t want her erased. I saw the beauty in those moments to pause and remember those I grieve. I realized that deep within the sadness of sweet remembrance is a comfort and joy from a creator who knows my grief and never leaves me in the darkest valley.
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. (Psalm 23 NIV).
Even though there may be tears, I have decided to take the moments of social media pop ups to celebrate their lives. Each life lost has left a gift in my heart and has molded me into a better person. If I dig deep into that sense of comfort and joy, if I focus on the gift God is reminding me of from their life, the emptiness from their loss starts to fill with something new and different. Grief is still present, but more importantly the gift of their life becomes a lasting legacy through mine.
God, thank you for those moments of sweet remembrance when you bring back to mind those I have lost. Thank you for reminding me of the gift of their life and that you never leave me even in the darkest valley.
How do you remember those you have lost? How do you keep their legacy in your life? Share your experiences here and breathe life and bring hope to others.