MOURNING: IT IS PART OF LIFE by Robert Soto

MOURNING: IT IS PART OF LIFE by Robert Soto

February 17, 2010

Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 4 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance..."

Death has been in our hearts lately as we just lost a great friend who was more of a sister to us than a friend. It is interesting as I have observed people this week and seen how they react. Some sort of act like it does not bother them at all. Some cannot understand so they sort of question God. I'm sure some are even bitter as they do not understand why God would allow such a thing to happen to a good person like this. Some of us are just sad because she will be greatly missed. Death is not an easy thing when it comes along. We know it is going to happen and many times we prepare ourselves for it but even so when it happens, it still hurts.

I was once told that our people in times past did not have the time to mourn. They were too busy trying to survive another day from the hands of the Mexicans of Mexico and the Whites of the United States. They usually left the bodies unburied because their enemies were near and ready to take their lives. But regardless as to how one mourns, it does not change the fact that mourning is a part of life. Solomon wrote: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance..." Life is full of life and death. Life is full of gain and loss. So that in life, there is a time for every season and for everything that happens. Death brings out the emotions of a person, but it is God who controls them.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

McAllen Grace Brethren Church
The Native American New Life Center
Chief of Chiefs Christian Church