Goodbye Will Never Be the Final Word

I wrote the following song-poem after my father died unexpectedly in August 2006. The best comfort--the only true comfort--in losing our loved ones to the grave is the knowledge that the separation is only temporary, that "those who hope in Christ never see each other for the last time" (my paraphrase-translation of a "German motto," exact source uncertain).

St. Paul said it best, as he so often does: "We do not want you to... grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.... And so we will [all] be [together] with the Lord forever" (1 Thess. 4:13-14, 17b, NIV; see also 1 Cor. 15).

There is nothing un-Christian about mourning the death of those we love; even Jesus did that (John 11:32-36). But we must not let grief rob us of hope or of our own will to live. For the Christian, death is merely the door that leads to real, lasting life; for a believer to shun it would be as foolish as a newborn refusing to leave the dark constriction of the womb and enter into the larger world. There is where the true light is; there is where our real growth and potential begins.

"Therefore encourage each other with these words" (1 Thess. 4:18).

You left us when we scarcely were expecting it,
And no power on earth can fully soothe the pain,
But the One True Source of Comfort still remains with us,
And the day will come when we'll be with you again.

For I know
That our God is faithful,
And I know
That our prayers are heard,
And I know
That for those who hope in Him,
Goodbye will never be the final word.

Our hearts still ache from the bitter sting of losing you,
And our souls long for that world no eye can see,
But our Father watches us all while we are apart,
And one day we'll be together eternally.

For I know
That our God is faithful,
And I know
That our prayers are heard,
And I know
That for those who hope in Him,
Goodbye will never be the final word.

For I know
That our God is faithful,
And I know
That our prayers are heard,
And I know
That for those who hope in Him,
Goodbye will never be the final word.