I recently attended a meeting about “Dealing with Change”.

What caused the biggest change in my life was the death of my wife a few years ago.

At that time, I received a card from a priest who said, “your wife is as close to you now as God is”.

That gave me great comfort and still does.

Having attended a funeral recently and spent some time thinking about the many people, including children, in the Middle East, Ukraine, Africa and elsewhere who have lost their lives because of current and recent conflicts, I wonder who comforts their bereaved relatives and friends? How do they deal with that sudden, awful change?

There is no doubt in my mind that God is very close to those suffering loss, just as Jesus wept with those who mourned at the death of his friend Lazarus.

One question to ask is, if God is close to us who mourn, how close are we to God?

The answer is that if we turn to him, we shall find him there with us, really close, always.