Harsh realities of life

 But sometimes the evil things we do not want come upon us. The evil things we do not want but that are bound to happen to us anyway are called harsh realities of life. One of them is death. When we have lost our dearest and nearest relative we respond differently in expressing our grief. 
It is a fact that most of the responses that are born out of sorrow have become immense blessings to human-kind. Think of the hit songs and best-seller books that were birthed out of grief.
 Below is a poem written by a father (name supplied) mourning the death of his teenage firstborn son. 
Like the book of Lamentations, the poem’s main purpose is not to describe events or to teach lessons.
It is to express grief, to pour out before God the horror of what happened to them.  This poem is a picture of the heart of the bereaved father.
Like the patriarchs of faith, Job and David in the psalms, this bereaved father does not rush to express his hope in God but fully grieves for the tragedy he was involved in.
His rhetoric questions show us the depth and heaviness of his grief. After pouring out his heart out to his departed son querying  up what he should or should not have done to prevent the death, he then concludes by addressing the Almighty God asking Him for comfort, recovery and hope.
Perhaps you are told to treat death lightly and to heal quickly but experience will teach you that a good cry is part of the healing process and open expression of grief is better than keeping it in till it manifests through unworthy means.
Dealing appropriately with grief involves uninhibited mourning at the time of death and subsequent healing of the pain through hope in the goodness of God. Though memories will last, pain should pass finally.         

What should I have done?

What should I have done to avoid and evade this memorable sixth day of the second month
What should I have done well enough to prevent this mysterious death
What should I have done to shield and cover my beloved offspring
What should I have done to preserve the precious life of my son

What should I have done as a parent to foresee and possibly avert this occurence
What should I have done to ensure the lad completed his education without the risks
What should I have done to ensure that his dreams could be fulfilled, big dre-ams indeed
What should I have done to nurture, promote and preserve such dreams

What should I have done well to see him graduate into a profession and possibly marriage
What should I have done to protect and preserve such a bright future
What should I have done to avoid such a great loss of a promising generation

How good and pleasant it could have been to watch him bloom and glow
How good it could have been to watch him grow to his maximum potential
To the pride of the whole family
What then should I have done

My son died a violent death, yet my hands are free of violence
My face is red with weeping, yet my prayer for the year has been
That of joy, peace, and happiness
And most importantly for the family Divine protection

How we all wish he had lived to represent a new generation
A generation of hope, limitless dreams and ambitions
A generation that I was prepared to support to the last penny
What then should I have done to avoid this sudden, tragic and painful death

My grief is deeper than the ocean, my heart is severely wounded
My tears are flowing like a raging river
I have honoured the Lord in prayer and indeed
What should I have done better -Oh Lord!
I have contributed in a large way to the advancement of other people
Now when it is now time to raise my own offspring
Death suddenly comes in to rob me in seconds
What went wrong and where!

What should I have done
What shouldn’t I have done
What should I do now to erase such sad memories from my mind
What should I do now to foresee and possibly prevent such mishappenings

Heavenly Father, you know how deep my grief is
I long for the touch of a hand, the sound of a voice that is stilled
Comfort my wounded heart, wipe the tears from my eyes
In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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