The Sweetness of Grief

From the beginning of time, people have been praying, chanting, drumming, dancing, lighting candles, writing words of prayer, sitting alone, and crying out in silence. But what is it that compels us to pray? It is the losses, the being lost, the griefs, the sorrows of life that bring us to cry out for help. Blessed are the mourners, it has been said.

There is a brokenness
out of which comes the unbroken,
a shatteredness
out of which blooms the unshatterable.
There is a sorrow
beyond all grief which leads to joy
and a fragility
out of whose depths emerges strength.
_{Rashani Rea, Contemporary Poet}

Grief is the friend who brings us to our knees. The relationship with the divine becomes our focus. Some deep knowing, some inborn instinct is awakened within us. We cry, “I beg you, God – spirit, Power, holy Father, holy Mother – I beg you, help me; I cannot go on without your help.” And help comes, always help comes with real begging.

And this begging becomes our meditation. Simply begging. And simply thanking. Simran forms the circle of please and thank you that spirals upward to our Friend. Grief becomes the cup that fills with joy and becomes our portal to God.