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I ran across a scripture that I think sheds light on this. John 11, verse 33-35. In the text of the scripture Christ is “deeply moved” and even weeps at the death of Lazarus. But the commentary I was reading says that “deeply moved” is the translation of the Greek word meaning literally the snort of a warhorse or a horse in a race. It is a different feeling than grief alone, as I picture it, it encompasses anger and energy and impatience, outrage. The dead rise in a relationship with Christ and death is an outrage. I believe Christ weeps for all of sin and death, with us, as well as beyond for it is frustrating and unnecessary, not what God wishes for us, for there to be death and grief at all. In another sense, to weep is unecessary because we live in Christ (and it is this sense that I think Thomas a Kempis means for his devotional here) and yet the deepest and most profound sadness is warranted for the barrier of sin and death that Christ overcomes. The frustration or impatience exists because it is inevitable that there is grief in a world with sin, even for believers. So the snort of the warhorse. We don’t dare ignore or minimize the grief in others when we face it because it is love and must be respected, but balancing this is hope and faith. Perhaps even joy.

Thank you for the info. Please consider the following. Death was created by God as was the physical response to it. The manner in which each of us responds is not created by God given the "free will" factor. The example is that Jesus reacted as was his nature, whereas you and I would not react in kind. The dead rise in a spiritual relationship with Christ and God. Lazurus was the physical interaction with Jesus that those who came after will not have due to the degradation of the body. We don’t dare ignore or minimize the grief in others when we face it because it is love and must be respected, but balancing this is hope and faith. Perhaps even joy. Yet isn't that exactly what the original piece was doing in advising against mourning in grief. That isn't respectful or logical. Let me know if you feel joy when a loved one passes. I'm even feeling extreme sadness for a friend right now as he deals with the possibility of putting his wonderful pet down today. Should he and his wife be joyful at this prospect?