If a child loses his parents, he is called an orphan.
If a wife loses her husband, she is called a widow.
If a husband loses his wife, he is called a widower.
But what do you call a parent who’s lost a child?
We don’t have a word in the English language for this. I think that is actually appropriate. There are no words for the pain of losing a child. My wife has miscarried twice and her pain was great at the loss of the potential of those lives. I think the pain would have even been greater if the loss would have happened later in the pregnancy. This happened to my mom. She had a stillborn after more than 6 months. She was showing. They had started setting up the nursery. Then, one day, there was no more heartbeat. The life was gone. She never got to see her baby. She wasn’t allowed to grieve. It is something that still pains her into her late 70’s.
After a man in our church passed away, I was talking to my friend, Hugh, who attended the same church, about how cancer sucks and it is hard losing people. He said one of the most profound statements I have ever heard. “In this sin-cursed world, all love ends in grief.” (Hugh attributes this saying to someone else, but I give him credit since I heard it from him.)
Think about it…
Our parents get old and die. Grief.
Our spouse dies. Grief.
A marriage ends in divorce. Grief.
A child dies. Grief
A parent rejects their child. Grief
A child rejects their parent. Grief
A friend betrays your trust. Grief
Any scenario you can come up with, in this present fallen world, ALL love ends in grief.
Praise God that we don’t grieve as those who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13, 1 Peter 1:6)
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