On Grief

BBC News

     I have to admit that at some point during this past year, I started to believe that the suffering found in the first world had less validity than the suffering of those in the third world.  I guess my mind has been so focused there, on the developing regions, going straight to news articles on hungry children in Somalia, while ignoring those about the struggles of those in America.  In my opinion, most situations in the developing world are more urgent and do require more care.  However, when two different people from two different cultures are both suffering, aren't both feelings equally valid and don't both situations require an equal amount of sympathy?  Must the context really matter? I've been struggling with these questions.

     The topic of grief has been at the forefront of my mind as I've been reading Chris Cleave's novel Little Bee.  The story is about the merging lives of a Nigerian refugee and a British magazine editor.  Both experience loss and pain in their lives, and happen to reunite as very weary and broken women.  It is a very captivating book-- one that, I admit, I had originally turned my nose up at, hearing that it was a popular one among female book clubs.  That makes since, though.  Reading about the coping of others in grief can help validate ones own emotions.  
      Going even further to the extreme of grievances in the first world are eating disorders.  Last night, I had the unfortunate experience of finding some pro-anorexia websites (thank you, Pinterest).  My heart instantly grieved for these young women who suffer with such an isolating and stubborn disease.  I looked at graphic photos of protruding ribs and bent shoulders and cut up bodies-- all dissatisfied, all in pain.  However, my mind quickly jumped to images of emaciated children in Somalia and I felt my heart slowly cooling to these first world images.  I think, "A thirteen year old Sudanese refugee would never turn down food that was handed to her if she was hungry!"  But I can't play these hypothetical games with the context of the grief.  Besides, eating disorders are a complicated topic (and they can certainly exist anywhere in the world).
     I have definitely felt convicted of my lack of sympathy for the plight of others who seem to "have" more.  Grief is grief.  A breaking soul is a breaking soul.  And Jesus is there for them all.

Psalm 116
"I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy... I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord... Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you."