We love it when Jesus turns the tables. Well, sometimes.
This week's story is a familiar one--and we could go right past it and think we know the moral. But do we? Is "who is my neighbor" really the question we need to be asking?

"Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are."

Hard to imagine, right? When we're in the middle of suffering, it's hard to believe it will feel light someday. (And that's not a great thing to say to people in pain, btw.) Yet there is great hope in this truth. There will be a time when all tears are gone, as we're told in Revelation. Hope has the last word.

Fred Rogers said, "If we can explain that feelings are mentionable and manageable, we will have done a great service for mental health." He had that right.
Grief and mourning are normal. Emotions (like anger) are normal. We’re reacting to something we know is wrong. 
Pretending it’s all joy, proof texting our way to fake gratitude, pushing aside our real feelings to manufacture “pretty” ones are all unnecessary and unhelpful. 
We can know something is true and still not feel it in the moment. A mix of joy and grief is normal and in line with scripture.
We're continuing our series on Death, Dying, and What Comes After this week with "Big Feelings." What do we do with the feelings surrounding grief?