Moving Forward

I’m feeling like I can move forward.

I’m beginning to feel that these difficult
circumstances will end soon.

I want to celebrate and focus on my future.
But then I feel guilty and feel that I’m betraying
the people who have died.

Life has recognizable seasons, cycles,
and rhythms.

It doesn’t stop for very long. When the chaos of this
pandemic has passed, this poem from the Bible will
remind us that there will be a time for mourning,
healing, remembering, and eventually a time to step
toward the future.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1–8

If feelings of guilt or betrayal are keeping you from moving
forward, create a memorial. It may help you to step into the
future. God instituted the practice of creating memorials
for ancient Israel. He commanded the Israelites to build
a memorial of stones as a way for them to remember how
he helped them cross the Jordan River into the land that
God had promised them.

What would be a meaningful way for
you to commemorate this difficult time
in your life?

How can you celebrate the memory
of people you’re missing in life?