The world is facing an unprecedented crisis in the form of the coronavirus pandemic. People of all walks of life across the globe have felt its deleterious effects in varying degrees. We see disturbing scenes from around the world of people gasping for breath in the ICUs, lining up for food and water, trudging along highways and byways, or dying on the roads and railway tracks. Frequently seeing these images adds to our misery of surviving the never-ending lockdown. All of it overwhelms us with grief.
The bad news is that we are bound to feel grief in abundance as we live through the pandemic. It is here to stay and torment us for an indefinite period of time. However, the good news is that through prayer and spirituality, we can find peace, meaning, and strength at present.
In the current situation, we are experiencing grief in several ways. There are things that make us sad personally; for example, the loss of employment or work, connectivity with friends and family, and the loss of involvement through the activities. We feel grief as part of our family when it faces troubles and hardships. For instance, we suffer when loved ones fall sick, suffer from disease and depression, quarantine themselves or pass away unexpectedly. Similarly, we also encounter grief in human suffering in general. Seeing pain and misery in the form of physical or emotional agony makes us sad. Because of our spiritual bonding with fellow human beings, we instinctively become empathetic towards the suffering, whenever we encounter them face to face or virtually. Remembering them causes us grief as we feel for the unknown victims, many of whom suffer undeservedly. In short, grief seems to visit us nowadays more frequently despite of the lockdown!
Yet there are ways to deal with this grief. It is conquerable. We can overcome it. Becoming aware of our grief is one good way of tackling it. It involves patiently living through the denial, the anger, and the refusal that usually accompany grief. In short, accepting that I am feeling pain, sorrow, and suffering for specific reasons is an important step in coming to terms with grief. Accepting and staying with one’s grief for a while actually speeds up the process of leaving it behind to get on with life.
Nevertheless, one requires spiritual help to deal with personal pain and suffering. A very effective way of dealing with grief is turning to prayer and spirituality. When weighed down by worries and sorrow, it is better to turn to God than just trying to tackle it on our own. Prayer and other spiritual practices can function as the channel of processing grief. Prayer helps us accept grief as a part and parcel of life. It enables us to accept suffering whenever we encounter it on the journey of life.
A spiritual outlook gives us that altruistic dimension in life wherein we look at the reality from others’ points of view. It then leads us to see that there are people in the world – maybe in my own town, locality, or even family – whose grief is greater than mine. We then feel inspired to care for others and reach out to them with compassion even as we wrestle our own demons.
Prayer prepares us to look forward to living past the present miseries. Prayer is essentially a hope-inspiring spiritual act that readies us to pull up our socks and rebuild life from scratch whenever grief devastates us. It leads us to add a new purpose to our existence in the midst of anxiety, fear, and bleakness. Prayer makes life worth-living in spite of all misery, pain, and loss by helping us see the deeper meaning of life. Prayer teaches us to value life in all its forms at all times in all places. Prayer gives us that ‘why to live for’ to put up with ‘any how’.
And yet prayer is not magic. Spirituality is not a panacea for all suffering and ills in the world. Prayer is only a spiritual resource to encourage us during the challenging circumstances of life. Prayer does not promise to remove all grief from around us; rather, it shows us the way to negotiate its treacherous terrain in light of faith. Ultimately, prayer is a powerful lens to view life in all its ugliness and beauty. And so we need to realize the truth. Denying grief is normal. Feeling angry about it is common. Blaming ourselves for others’ loss and suffering is understandable. Sinking deeper into grief in times of crisis is natural. Overcoming grief in the course of time is predictable. But turning to prayer to deal with grief is a beautiful way of accepting life with all its joys and sorrows – one that makes us more patient, compassionate, humble.
Fr. (Dr.) Sunil Macwan, S.J., a Catholic Priest and professor of English at St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad, holds an MA and a Ph.D. in postcolonial literature from Marquette University, USA, as well as an MA in philosophy from Madras University and a Diploma in Theology from Gujarat Vidhya Deep, Vadodara. He writes on current issues, spirituality, and literature.