The Healing Journey

August 13, 2025

The world mourns when a great man or woman dies, such as Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr. And the world mourns at the unexpected death of someone like Princess Diana because it feels the enormity of the loss. And so, it seems, we mourn together in our common humanity, which is something we share.

It has been that way throughout history. Consider the prophet Moses, who is believed to have died in 1271 BC after leading the Israelites for 40 years as they wandered in the desert, searching for the Promised Land. The Bible tells us that at 120 years old, Moses died on Mount Nebo, within sight of the Promised Land.

The author of the Book of Deuteronomy gives the details of his death and describes the mourning that accompanied it: “Since then, no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders the LORD sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and all his servants and against all his land, and all the great might and the awesome power that Moses displayed in the sight of all Israel.”

After showing Moses the Promised Land from Mount Nebo, “The Lord then said to him, ‘This is the land about which I promised an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to your descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross over.’ So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the Lord, died as the Lord had said; and he was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Bethpeor. To this day, no one knows the place of his burial. Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated. The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days, till they had completed the period of grief and mourning for Moses.”

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