Death, Grief, Duty and Prayer

Death.  Prayer.

Grief.  Prayer.

Duty.  Prayer.

Someone dies.  Unexpectedly.  Young.  Way before their time.
Then -- confusion and feelings of inadequacy.  Why?  Why did it happen?
How do I go on?  How does anything go on?

We pray.

How do we understand it?  What will make the feelings go away?  Maybe we should feel like this for the rest of our life to honor the meaning of the person in our life?

We pray.

We grieve.
We reconcile the new reality of the loss with our reality.  We integrate the meaning of the deceased person into our continuing life.  We become our "next self".

We pray.

We act.
On our duty to honor the deceased person and their meaning to us.  And their meaning to the world. Again and again.

We pray.

Thank You, God, for the gift of this person and the ongoing and evolving meaning of their life to us.
Thank You, God, for understanding.  Please help us.