Away From Those We Love

In the first place nothing can fill the gap when we are away from those we love, and it would be wrong to try to find anything.  We must simply hold out and win through.  That sounds very hard at first, but at the same time it is a great consolation, since leaving the gap unfilled preserves the bond between us.  It is no good to say that God fills the gap.  God does not fill it, but keeps it empty so that our communion with one another may be kept alive, even at the cost of agony….

Times of separation are not a total loss….  In spite of all the difficulties they bring, they can be a wonderful means of strengthening and deepening fellowship….  From the moment we awake until we fall asleep we must commend our loved ones wholly and unreservedly to God and leave them in God’s hands, transforming our anxiety for them into prayers on their behalf.

– from Letters and Papers from Prison, by Deitrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945)