Sugar and Sorrow
The saddest part about being sad is the weight of the sadness. Only you can feel the heaviness on your heart as it struggles to beat against the burden. Sorrow is unique because it makes you feel unique, creating a barrier between us. We try to comfort one another, making efforts to break the walls of isolation. Yet, we are tugging along chains of our own suffering. It reminds me of DiCamillo’s story Because of Winn Dixie and the Littmus Lozenges:
Right after returning home from the war, Littmus made a very important decision. After weeping over the loss of his family and his home, Littmus realized that he had a yearning for a piece of candy. He hadn’t had candy in years, but he decided that since the world was such a sorry place, he was going to make sure that he could put something sweet in it.
Littmus started a candy factory after the Civil War that still stands today, although it was abandoned. Littmus created the Littmus Lozenge—a candy that became world famous for its mixture of sweet and sad.
(http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-because-of-winn-dixie/chapanal017.html)
Opal has a lozenge that tastes like rootbeer, strawberry, and sorrow. I feel as though my sad heart was made into a candy, it would probably taste like blueberry, pumpkin, and the key ingredient of sorrow.
Last night, I think I truly understood how important that mixture is: sweet and sad. I was awakened from a dream—a particularly melancholy one—because it reminded me of something sad. As I lay awake, it was just me and my sadness, heavy like a hippo in my heart. My soul cried out under this massive weight to be met by the sweetest of sweet. Psalm 23:3 whispered into the night, “He restores my soul.”
Beautiful verses reminding us of the love of the Lord are all over in Scripture: how He loves the broken-hearted, is courage for the down-trodden, and of course, the ultimate act of love of Jesus that is our salvation. But of these, I was comforted by these four words assuring the restoration of my soul.
- He restores my soul. (NASB)
- He refreshes my soul. (NIV)
- He renews my strength. (NLT)
- You let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction. (MSG)
No matter how broken my spirit, despite the distance I fall, however heavy the sadness, I rest in confidence that I will be made whole again. Bring the burden, for I have found the sweetness of my God.
As I continue my adventures of this life, I have this knowledge: if not for the sorrow, the Love would not be as sweet.
