It's Not Just Me, He Knows My Grief

A man stopped by our office the other day
He talked with us about retirement
He seemed ready to go saying 
“I’ve worked 26 years at this job and one day you wake up and realize that you’re old and time has flown by in a flash.
You know, no one knows how many days they have left”

And suddenly, I knew
He had experienced grief.
He didn’t come out and say it but just in his phrasing, I knew.

Later, after he had left, I asked my coworkers and they confirmed that he’d lost his mom just the month prior.
Now through my own grief, I’m more aware than I ever was of other people’s grief.
And while it’s hard to be compassionate and forgiving to myself at times,
I immediately feel a deep sense of empathy for those who have also loved and lost someone

My mind also thinks about the grief that Jesus experienced.
It’s completely skipped over in the Bible, but I wonder, desperately at times, how Jesus handled losing His father.
Did He experience feelings of hopelessness, despondency, agony, and maybe even some anger?
Did His father pass before He was at the age where He knew what His life calling was or understand that death was not something to be afraid of?

 

I don’t know these answers and yet, 

I find comfort in knowing that my grief is not just unique to me
No, my grief, Jesus experienced too.