Hello After Goodbye

If you have never heard of the southern gospel group, Legacy Five, let me briefly tell you about them. They have award-winning talent in their group which creates some of the best harmony and one of the best bass singers in the business. But let me focus more on a song they recorded on their CD, "God's Been Good".

The song I want to tell you about is called, "Hello After Goodbye". It was written as a tribute to the late Roger Bennett, who was a co-founder of the group. Roger Bennett lost his battle with cancer and went home to be with the Lord. Ironically, several years prior to his death, Bennett wrote a song titles, "Heroes of the Faith" as a tribute to his good friend, Glen Payne, who also died from cancer.

But the song, "Hello After Goodbye", is a bittersweet song that draws me to it. The lyrics tell it like it is to grieve a loved one. However, if our loved one and ourselves are believers, we do have the hope of the reunion detailed in the song. We will be together again in Heaven, when our life here on earth is over.

Wait a minute!---some might protest. Heaven is not just about being reunited with our loved ones, but rather being with our Heavenly Father. True. Very true. But this song addresses our need to grieve a loved one. I have heard fellow Christians refer to a funeral as a "celebration" of the deceased one's life. I see no wrong in that, but wonder if people use a celebration to avoid grieving? It is as if by using the word "celebrate", they feel it shows how strong their faith is in knowing this life on earth is not the end.

Grieving can make one feel vulnerable. Maybe that is why some choose to think of a funeral as more of a celebration than what it really is. A farewell to someone we dearly love. The need to grieve a loss is something built inside of us and  helps us on the journey of healing. It is Biblical to grieve as we see in Ecclesiastes 3:4. "A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;". 


By no means am I implying to celebrate a loved one's life is wrong. I think it is important to remember that to show grief is not an indication of a lack of faith and does not make one appear weak.

So let us take the time to mourn so we can move to the place the verse speaks of: a time to dance. To celebrate.