Psalm 126

Those who sow in tears
will reap with shouts of joy.
Though one goes along weeping,
carrying the bag of seed,
he will surely come back with shouts
of joy,
carrying his sheaves.

This is the miracle of new life: there is joy at the end of grief.

Those in grief don’t want, or need, to hear this as they sow in tears. They need to water their days with the tears of grief that will bring forth the bounty of sowing.

So, it is a truth best learned before grief. A truth to be observed before loss, death, pain. For at the end of grief there is a flood of joy. And that joy must be received with “shouts,” with “singing” – because in that great morning, we rejoice and return with shouts of joy and victory over the pain and loss of grief.