Letter to the Editor: Grief, while painful, is a sign of love

Dear Editor:

Our communities have been experiencing a lot of grief lately. And grief is something you can’t just get over, the body and the spirit have to move through the process of grief. The heart must be allowed to mourn. Grief shows many faces. It shows up even as anger, especially when we find ourselves questioning why precious life must be lost so early, when it only just began to blossom, or before it even had a chance to. Or asking why death comes in the middle of life when we’re still planning for tomorrow… We can feel a sense of injustice as we try to reason why. 

We won’t always get our answers as soon as we want, in our quest to find some sense of relief from how painful death and loss can be. Grief can feel heavy, siphoning our own life breath from us as we move and work through the pain. May God grant us the grace to hold space for the families, for the friends, and for each other, in the best way a compassionate heart can. Perhaps the need is met by being able to know, we are still here when they feel they have had the time and privacy to grieve as they need, the support in knowing while we cannot fully feel the depth of their own grief, we honor theirs deeply, we care deeply and we respect their needs deeply. As we come together in unity through grief and death, I hope in the future we can continue the unity as we go through life in also our joys and celebrations. When God chooses to take those we love home, we all feel it in our souls. Grief is a sign there is great love here.

Danae Bales

Basin