Thursday, October 12, 2006
What do I say?
Often it is difficult to find the right words for someone who has lost a family member or a dear friend. The following words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer may help you:
Nothing can make up for the absence of someone we love. It would be wrong to try to find a substitute; we must simply hold out and see it through. That sounds very hard at first, but at the same time it is a great consolation, for the gap, as long as it remains unfilled, preserves the bonds between us. It is nonsense to say God fills the gap; God doesn’t fill it, but on the contrary, keeps it empty and so helps us to keep alive our former communion with each other; even at the cost of pain.
Nothing can make up for the absence of someone we love. It would be wrong to try to find a substitute; we must simply hold out and see it through. That sounds very hard at first, but at the same time it is a great consolation, for the gap, as long as it remains unfilled, preserves the bonds between us. It is nonsense to say God fills the gap; God doesn’t fill it, but on the contrary, keeps it empty and so helps us to keep alive our former communion with each other; even at the cost of pain.
