On Sorrow

Being committed to peace does not mean we will not experience sorrow. In fact, being dedicated to peace, we do not try to avoid any of lives lessons.

Sorrow is one of our many teachers.

Let’s look at the case of losing someone we love. It is often said that it is far harder to lose someone suddenly than to lose them after a protracted illness.

Why is this?

For most of us, it is because we have things left to say; things left to do; some manner of unfinished business with the departed.

So, our sorrow is intensified by an anger that feels something like this, “Dammit, I am not ready to lose him/her.”

The peace practitioner feels the pain of the loss and then uses that pain as his/her teacher.

No matter how committed we are, to peace, it is always going to be painful to lose someone close to us. Even when we know the truth, that the part of us which is real can never die, it still causes sorrow when this person leaves this physical plane.

We are human. We are designed to feel this sorrow. It is our teacher as was the person, whose loss, we mourn.

Our commitment to peace does not serve to end our experience of sorrow. It does hasten our return to joy, but it never seeks to deny our humanity. It is the ability to be human and “experience the kingdom” simultaneously which is our quest here.