Reflections

Samuel.
In the Jewish Scriptures, known to Christians as the Old Testament, the figure of Hannah is important. Hannah was not able to have children. The Scriptures say that the Lord closed up her womb (1 Samuel 1:5) and because of this, other women provoked her to sadness. In her distress Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly and vowing that if ever she should have a son born to her, she would dedicate him to the temple. She was a woman in deep distress and prayed as one was pouring her soul out before the Lord.
When the priest of the temple saw her, he thought she was drunk and he rebuked her saying, “How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine” (1 Sam 1:14). But Hannah answered him, “Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time” (1 Sam 1:16). Eli, the priest of the Temple, upon hearing Hannah’s situation, blessed her and said, “Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made him.” She left, went home and was saddened no more.
In due time Hannah conceived a son and she named him Samuel, which means he who is sent from God. As she promised, she brought him to the temple to serve the Lord. Her prayer changed from one of anxiety and vexation to one of joy: “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies because I rejoice in my victory” (1 Sam 2:1). Hannah, waiting a lifetime for her child, gives him to the temple to serve God.
As my friends anxiously awaited their gift from God, their Samuel, they learned that there had been complications and that Samuel had died. The despair that one faces at the loss of a child is so great, so difficult that it is not possible to be imagined, not even when it is one of your friends, not even when it is someone in your family. The constant grief that a parent must bear is heavy and unrelenting.
Hannah teaches us that children are a blessing from God. She also teaches us to pray: open and honest, in anxiety and frustration as one pouring out her soul to the Lord. In the pit of despair, God hears your cries and your prayers. At your worst, God is with you and listens to you. In your greatest suffering, God is suffering along with you.
The grieving process can take a lifetime and that’s ok. Let your prayers come before God, for he hears you and is with you.