Grief Observed Brings Life

Recently, I have been prompted to contemplate grief. I think it is my stage of life, as I have less time to reclaim things lost than in my youth. I have said many times that I have been fortunate to not have experienced what I consider significant loss in my life. Because of that, I think I have missed the daily losses that dot my inner landscape. From small expectations unrealized to the letting go of coping mechanisms, when I pause I am aware that there is grief built into so much of what we experience. There has to be. We were created for a world different from this and every gap between this world and that produces loss. Grief observed though, brings life. Suffering is the path to connection with others and God. It is through loss that God brought about a way for us to live eternally. I agree with John O’Donohue when he writes that we “weep our way to our true self.” I pray for you and me that we allow the grief that is inevitable to produce a richness of soul that is incomparable.

What is a loss (big or small) I need to pay more attention to?
What is an area that is difficult for me to face "as it is"?
What is one positive thing that has come from a loss in my life?