Loss

'I know that my Redeemer liveth. And that He shall stand at the last day upon the earth. And though man destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see G-d.' ><> Job 19:25-26

Are you familiar with the story of Job? He was known as a faithful man, one who honored and obeyed and worshipped the Lord. One who led a good life. One who cared for his family and his neighbor.

And yet, this man experienced great suffering of body, mind and soul as he encountered death, disease and abandonment.

What do we take from Job? What do we do with his story? How do we make sense of G-d allowing such suffering as his to occur?

Some days I am overwhelmed with loss, overwhelmed by the pain and struggle and suffering of those around me. Pictured above you will see my dear friend Phillip Berg holding his sweet little baby girl, Anna. Anna is now about 8 months old. She has an older sister, Sarah (2); three older brothers, Nathan (3), Adam (5) and Asher (6); and a wonderful, loving mother, Martha.

I came to know Martha, Phil, Asher and Adam 5 years ago when I was a student at Jerusalem University College in Jerusalem. Phil and Martha constantly opened their home to students and visitors. Phil had lived in Israel for over 20 years and Martha about 10 years. They speak Hebrew, Phil speaks Arabic... they were always eager to help us feel at home, always ready to make our lives enjoyable and light, even when the political situation felt distressing and heavy.

Phil and Martha work for an organization called Shevet Achim (which means Light to the Nations in Hebrew). This group brings Palestinian and Arab children into Israeli hospitals so that Israeli doctors can perform complex and often life-saving surgeries on the kids, who might not have access to such healthcare in their own countries. Many children's lives have been saved through this organization. If you would like to read more about it, please go to www.shevetachim.org

Phil and Martha are heroes to me... people I love to be around because they teach you how to love in the way they extend love and hospitality to you. In their relationship with each other, in the way they raise their children, and in the way they open their home... they make you believe in the power of love... in the selfless everyday moments of sacrifice they give to each other and to all they encounter... they show you the face of G-d each time they embrace each other and you with their eyes, with their smiles...

When you see true love, when you watch it unfold between two people and when you see them love up their children in that love... you know you are in the presence of something holy, something bigger than yourself, something bigger even than Phil and Martha.

As sweet little baby Anna is growing more and more each day, she often looks at you with the eyes of her mother and the smile of her father... And as she grows, her big brothers are learning to care for her... They are learning with each passing day that they must now care for their darling mother as well.

You see, Phil has traveled on... Phil has returned to the love that once gave him life... and left behind to carry on his memory are five beautiful children and one precious wife.

This family is in the center of loss. And because of the way Phil and Martha invited me in during his life, I cannot help but enter even now with Martha and the children after Phil's death.

And I find myself wondering, what do we do now? What do we hope in now? Will we ever move past loss? Will we ever even want to?

I suppose for me, Job represents loss. I am not sure that Job represents much more. Sure, in the end his fortune and family are restored... but after reading Job, that return of riches and family does not leave me feeling reassured.

Job teaches me that even these things can be taken away, can be lost... perhaps are certain to be lost in the end.

So, here we sit. Waiting, watching, trying desperately to remember Phil and the love that he and Martha shared. We mourn. We cry. We protest in vain. Yet sitting with this loss is what we will do. We will not give up hope - for Phil's example of extending G-d's love does not allow us to be complacent.

For even as we sit in silence and sadness we remember this hope... and small though it may feel at times, we will always always know it to be true:

I know that my Redeemer liveth. And that He shall stand onthe last day upon the earth. And though man destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see G-d..... For now is Christ risen, the first fruits of them that sleep.

Every time sweet Anna smiles, every time Sarah asks to read a book, every time Nate looks shy, every time Adam gets serious and takes care of everyone else, every time Asher speaks of Phil's memory, every time Martha's eyes shine in happy bittersweet kindness... every time, we will remember Phil... we will remember G-d's love... and we will not give up hope.