September 13

After the servant had picked him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. Then she said, “Did I ask you for a son, my lord? Didn’t I say, ‘Do not deceive me?’” — 2 Kgs 4:20,28 BSB

The woman might have thought, “It would have been better if I had remained as I was, with no love in my home, than to experience the joy of motherhood for such a brief time, only to lose it.” Similar thoughts often come to those who have lost loved ones. In their grief, it seems it would have been better never to have known and loved them, than to experience the blessing of their presence and then lose them.

But Tennyson’s words ring true:
‘Tis better to have loved and lost,
Than never to have loved at all.

Loving brings its own blessings. It opens our hearts, enriches our lives, and teaches us the true meaning of living. To live truly is to love.

Losing a loved one doesn’t take away the blessings that loving has brought to our lives. These blessings stay with us forever, even when our loved ones are gone. Even if this child had not been restored to the mother in this world, she would have kept forever the impression and influence of the child’s brief, beautiful years.