「愛上那終必死亡的，是一件可怕的事。」這是一首古詩的開頭，由一千多年前的猶太詩人哈勒維（Judah Halevi）所寫，後來在20世紀被翻譯出來。詩人解釋了恐懼背後的原因：「去愛……，哦，所愛的最終會失去。」

創世記23章記載，在撒拉離世時，亞伯拉罕因失去愛妻而極度悲痛，「為她哀慟哭號」（2節）。這一章展開一個淒美哀傷的故事，描述聖經裡令人難忘的一位人物的離世，即亞伯拉罕忠實的妻子撒拉。這位婦人在年老時，曾因聽聞自己將為人母而暗笑（18章11-12節），卻在生以撒時疼痛哭泣。

約翰福音裡有一節簡短的經文，富含情感、令人動容：「耶穌哭了」（11章35節）。耶穌這位彌賽亞在拉撒路的墳墓前流淚，凸顯了祂對朋友離世的哀傷。「愛」確實是一件可怕的事，詩人哈勒維稱之為「傻子做的事」，但接著他又說這是「一件神聖的事」，這尤其適用於那些因相信基督，「生命與基督一同藏在上帝裡面」的基督徒（歌羅西書3章3節）。

我們會愛也會失去，例如配偶、孩子、父母、朋友或寵物。我們有相聚的喜樂，也有失去的悲傷，這是人之常情。但對基督徒而言，正如詩人大衛所說，我們的哀哭只會持續一夜：「一宿雖然有哭泣，早晨便必歡呼」（詩篇30篇5節）。我們的天父沒有讓你我失去盼望。

“Tis a fearful thing / to love what death can touch.” That line begins a poem written more than a thousand years ago by the Jewish poet Judah Halevi, translated in the twentieth century. The poet clarifies what’s behind the fear: “to love . . . / And oh, to lose.”

In Genesis, an outpouring of emotion occurred when Abraham lost Sarah in death. “Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep over her” (23:2). The chapter unfolds the beautiful, grief-heavy story of the loss of one of Scripture’s most memorable characters: Sarah, the faithful wife of Abraham, that old woman whod laughed at the news she’d be a mother (18:11-12) but had cried in pain as Isaac made his way into this world.

We make much of that crisp, humanity-rich verse in John’s gospel: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). The Messiah’s tears at the tomb of Lazarus emphasized Jesus’ loss. To love is indeed a fearful thing. The poet Halevi calls it “a thing for fools,” yet he follows by also naming it “a holy thing,” which it is, especially for those whose faith is “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

We love and lose everything from spouses to children to parents to friends to pets, and weeping with “painful joy” is oh so human. Yet for the believer in Jesus, our weeping only lasts for the proverbial night. As David wrote, “Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Our Father hasn’t left us bereft of hope.