Sabbath Devotional :: Mourning with Those Who Mourn

The past year and counting have provided us with ample opportunities to reflect upon and to fulfill our covenant to “bear one another’s burdens,” “mourn with those that mourn,” and “comfort those that stand in need of comfort.” (See Mosiah 18:8-10).

Far too many moments. Far, far, too many.

The deaths, loss, and grief brought about by Covid-19. The deep pain of our fellow Black siblings in light of the wrongful deaths/murders and also of our Asian and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) siblings following the murders in Atlanta and the other instances of AAPI hate and violence. The continued rise in murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, and two spirits. And our own personal tragedies and also tragedies in our personal circles. To name just a few.

The commandment is clear — mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort. There are no qualifiers. And yet, the “natural human” seems to add a lot of qualifiers to this covenant and is quick to dismiss other’s mourning and grief: Do they have a good reason to mourn? Is their grief valid? Can I mitigate, deflect, or otherwise diminish their pain? Can I simply turn a blind eye to it? Do they have empirical evidence to back up and prove that their grief is valid and not imagined?

But we didn’t covenant to “comfort those we believe really need comfort” “or mourn with those who we feel have a good reason to mourn.” We also didn’t covenant to “mourn with those who mourn to the extent it remains comfortable or easy for us.”

Adding these qualifiers further inflicts barbs in the wounds of those who are already hurting and is the antithesis to this covenant. For far too many, it seems more natural to defend a position or prove them wrong rather than just mourn.

In our efforts to mourn with those who mourn, perhaps we all could try harder to put off the natural human.