Blessed are they that mourn...

Back to the beatitudes.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Matthew 5:4

Three key words stand out in this verse:

BLESSED - MOURN - COMFORTED

The dictionary defines BLESSED as:

1. consecrated; sacred; holy; sanctified

2.worthy of adoration, reverence, or worship

3.divinely or supremely favored
4.blissfully happy or contented.

5.bringing happiness and thankfulness:

Look through the list of adjectives above and you will find the words

....Sacred...Holy...Worthy...Divinely Favored...Blissfully Happy...Thankful....

The world entices us with a different set of adjectives:

....Wealthy....Sexy....Favored of Man...Fun Loving...Independent...Self Oriented....

Which attributes actually last, not just in this world, but in the world to come?

Hopefully we want to be Blessed...

The second key word, MOURN, is defined:

1. to feel or express sorrow or grief.

2. to grieve or lament for the dead.

3. to show the conventional or usual signs of sorrow over a person's death.

We all have cause to mourn.  My current list of why I mourn is long...

• Death is one reason for mourning - I think I will forever mourn my brother, but also others I have lost to death, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, friends who have gone on to the other side, even pets I have loved.
• I mourn at the loss of friendships - people who have impacted my life who are no longer a part of it.  I think sometimes death is easier.  The finality of death gives us hope of being reunited,  where as the loss of a friendship may never be restored.
• I find I am mourning the youth of my children - how is it I will have less children home than will be out in the world?  There were times when I thought we would never pass the diaper/bottle stage, or the busy toddler stage, or even the hormonal teenage years.  Even those will pass in the blink of an eye.
• I mourn lost  or wasted opportunities - times I should have been wiser, moments I should have acted upon and even moments I shouldn't have.  Things I should have said, asked, or done.  Opportunites that may not come again.

With so many things in life to mourn it is no wonder that Christ added this statement to his teachings!

 ....for they shall be comforted."

 COMFORT is defined as either a verb or a noun:
–verb (used with object)

1. to soothe, console, or reassure; bring cheer to.
2. to make physically comfortable.
3. to aid; support or encourage.
–noun
4. relief in affliction; consolation; solace.
5. a state of ease and satisfaction of bodily wants, with freedom from pain and anxiety.

Little needs to be said once we realize who is there to soothe, console, reassure and cheer us.
Who is able to provide physical comfort when we mourn so deeply we physically ache.
Who will aid, support and encourage us while we try to survive.
Who we can turn to for relief and solace as He frees us from pain and anxiety.

Elder Robert E. Wells poses the questions and provided divine answers;
"How can it be a blessing to be in mourning? To mourn is to show grief or pain at the death of a loved one. This intense feeling cannot be hidden from the world or from God; it cannot be eased or pacified except with comfort and consolation from God through the Holy Ghost.

So why would the Savior say that it is a blessing to mourn? It may be that pain and suffering at the death of loved ones is an essential part of our mortal experience that obliges us to face the question of the reality of the spirit world and the hope of the Resurrection. It is through suffering that we discover what is eternally important.
It might be that it is a blessing for us to become more fully aware that God’s ways are not always our ways, and that we must trust him when things don’t go as we believe they should. When we can see the Lord’s purposes fulfilled in our sorrowful moments, the Holy Ghost can console us and the Atonement and Resurrection can become the cornerstones of our faith. Again, both the Joseph Smith Translation and the Book of Mormon accounts indicate that the mourner is truly blessed only if he comes unto Christ."