Devotional: Secondary Losses

Secondary Losses

Deuteronomy 34:8, “The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab….”

Recently, we’ve watched the United Kingdom experience the loss of Queen Elizabeth II, one of the most highly watched funerals of all time. Many of us looked on as the family grieved their loss, as well as the multitude of others. In our passage today, we see the Israelites struggle with grief after the passing of Moses. The loss for the nation was enormous. The nation grieved the loss of a leader, but that wasn’t all. With every loss, there is a multitude of secondary losses. It may seem like an odd pairing, but Moses and Queen Elizabeth II were influencers and their deaths sent ripples of grief throughout their many relationships. Yes, their family grieved, but many more people grieved as well.

In my own life, I experienced the loss of my father in August 2021. He didn’t have the influence of the Queen or Moses, but he knew a lot of people in North Mississippi and was fondly known as the Pope of Tippah County by a few people. As we continue to heal from the loss of my father, we are constantly reminded of the secondary losses that occurred. As we live day to day in our small community, friends and neighbors still grieve the loss of my father as well. When many of them see us, they can’t help but tell of some experience they had with my dad and how he had such an enormous effect on their lives. The effect of his death continues to produce ripples of grief. At first, we almost dreaded these conversations, as the grief was fresh, but now we greet each person with a smile and are thankful for them sharing a memory of my father with us. We now realize that it was his life that still affects people, not his death, and that’s a blessing.