I know this is something I’ve posted about before, but it’s something that’s been on my mind so much and which I feel so drawn to. I keep coming across the concept of looking up to see the miracle, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. It’s something I know I’ve needed reminders of, and every time I’ve seen or felt them, it’s lifted me in ways I can’t describe. I’m grateful the Lord knows me and knows just what my heart needs. And my sweet Benny, too.
As I was doing my gospel study this week, I came across the story of Mary Magdalene at Christ’s empty tomb after He’d been resurrected. The scriptures in the New Testament tell that after she found the empty tomb, she sat outside crying and broken-hearted that someone had taken the Savior’s body. An angel then came to her and asked her why she was sad. She explained it was because someone had taken the Savior away, and she wanted to know where they’d put Him. In the moments to follow, the scriptures tell how Mary then looked up and recognized the Savior as the personage with whom she’d been conversing, an experience that made her heart soar at the miracle she was witnessing. (Pardon my paraphrasing – I would never pretend to describe the situation as eloquently as the Apostle John, but I appreciate describing it in a way that relates to me.)
In thinking about this story recently – a story I’ve heard so many times before – I wondered how often in my life I’ve sat crying in grief and potentially missed recognizing the Savior figuratively standing beside me. Or my sweet Benny. Or another angel the Lord has sent. Mary Magdalene may have missed the Savior if she hadn’t looked up. But she did. And that’s when the miracle came.
I’ve seen so many miracles throughout my life – and especially over these last three months. (I still can’t believe it’s been three months since our angel boy passed through the veil.) It was a miracle when we came home to Christmas lights on our home. It was a miracle when we received the art that we’d seen the morning our angel boy went to heaven. It was a miracle that as I sat to write this, the song that was randomly playing on my playlist was “God Be With You ‘Til We Meet Again.” We’ve witnessed miracle after miracle after miracle, and I’m grateful for how our sweet Benny has reminded us to look up and actually see them.
Mary Magdalene undoubtedly had a very special relationship with the Savior, as the one who first saw Him resurrected. But even in His presence, she didn’t recognize Him until He said her name and she looked up. I love this story even more as I’ve studied it recently because I feel I can relate to her as she sat in her grief. As she sat and wondered where her Lord had been taken. As she sat looking into the empty tomb, thinking she may never see Him again. I’ve been doing the same thing. Sitting in my grief. It’s been necessary at times as I’ve tried to process the loss of my boy. But like her, I’ve been grateful to hear my sweet boy reaching out to me and reminding me to look up.
Look up and see the miracle. Look up and feel the peace and light that come by doing so. Look up and realize this isn’t the end.
Thank you, my sweet boy.
I’m so glad this isn’t the end.
So sweet and such great advice!