A Hebrew word first introduced when Laban and Jacob of the Bible, were separated. Since that time, mizpah has come to be expressed as an emotional bond between people who are separated (either physically or by death). Additionally, it is the message and meaning of a connection, or a bond that would forever live on …for he said, the Lord watch between me and you, when we are absent one from another.
I am grateful for the ‘mizpah’ that was established many thousands of years ago, a marker of hope in my everyday struggle to face life without my son’s presence in our journey. The bond is incredible, and different than any other loss I have gone through. Yet, the comfort is in the ever present shelter the Lord gives in our lives as we face separation.