Grief and Purpose

[Emmaus Lessons - I]

What is the role of grief in our vocation?
What place does failure or loss play in our broader purpose?
How do we factor trauma into our calling?
What tools help us reckon with letdown when life must move on?
How are grief and optimism related? Regret and hope? Resentment and love?

People like us must ask.

Coming to terms with the hurts of life while holding on to belief that a different future is possible is the hard double-role we have because we're unwilling to hide from reality. The reality that is now and the one being born tomorrow.

If we ignore the former—trauma, grief, pain, regrets—we are lulled into an illusory reality where hurts don’t happen (or, if they do, we can always numb ourselves).

If we ignore the latter—purpose, calling, vocation, mission—we run the risk of becoming cogs in a wheel of production and consumption, never asking hard questions, never digging our heels in and demanding change, and, most importantly, never discovering our role (and voice) in realizing a better tomorrow.