Originally posted on Facebook on Friday, January 16, 2026.

In Week 2 of 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for a pause.

We're on a four lane highway and traffic comes to a stand still on both sides as far as the eye can see. But this wasn't because of an accident or construction. It was voluntary—a statement of solemn solidarity as our funeral procession made its way to the cemetery.

I've always appreciated this courtesy, but even moreso today.

When someone loses a loved one, especially someone that was a key fixture in their life, their world stops.

I liken it to a bustling city with thousands of people busy going in different directions carried about by the varying business of the day. In the middle of that mass, someone's suffering a crisis—someone's dying, but no one takes notice, no one stops, and everyone keeps moving on.

I was talking about this with my Dad at the funeral. We were discussing the sort of paralysis, a state of denial, and another kind of death that loss of a loved one can bring to those left behind. But, as my Dad said, "The reality is the birds keep singing, time keeps passing, and the world moves on. It doesn't stop."

And that is cruel.

But we can change that.

We can transform an otherwise bleak reality by bringing kindness and compassion into it.

We can help someone shoulder the soul-crushing weight of the world by embodying four simple words:

"You are not alone."

And this can be conveyed by a gesture as simple as acknowledging that someone's world has stopped and taking a pause to stop with them.

In doing so, we become a kind of bridge—the way back from the dead to the land of the living.

That's what these people on the highway did for our family. It inspires me to be that for others.

I'm grateful.

#52WoG #TheMinistryOfAPause #perfectourlove