The Hidden Power of Loss and Grief Part 7
May 4, 2026
The Hidden Power of Loss and Grief Part 7
There is another momentous power within loss. It does not announce itself with fanfare, but once we recognize it, our lives are transformed.
Loss empowers us with the rare gift of discernment. The Latin root of the word, discern is the word ”cern”, which means “to sift.” Because of our suffering, we can now more readily sift or separate what is essential from what is not. In the wake of loss, the noise begins to fall away. What once felt urgent reveals itself as trivial. What once competed for our attention loses its hold. And in its place, something truer emerges: a deep knowing of what actually matters.
Loss empowers the sensitivities of the soul. It teaches us that time is not endless and that not everyone will always be here. And because of that, we begin to live differently. The small quarrels, the need to be right, the endless inner debates, the perfectionism that drains our energy… all of these begin to feel like poor investments of a sacred life. Loss and grief become a constant reminder: this moment matters, this person is precious, and to pass by them, to choose them over an ego’s distraction, is a form of death.
So, we choose more carefully. We are no longer drawn to what dazzles or distracts us, but to what nourishes for a lifetime. We seek the people our souls recognize and relationships that give life rather than drain it. We stop chasing what fleetingly appeals to us and begin honoring what sustains us. And just as importantly, loss and the grief that follows, empower us with the courageous and confident conviction that our deepest purpose must be fulfilled.
A new honesty emerges after loss. We find ourselves stepping away from relationships that deplete us, from obligations that hollow us out, from pursuits that no longer align with the person we are becoming. Because loss clearly defines so much that before had been hazy, it reveals something profound: our energy and those with whom we travel on this journey of soul, are sacred to us.
It is easy to be seduced by what sparkles… the experiences, achievements, identities that feed the ego’s image of who we think we are. But loss and grief interrupt that illusion. They sober us; awaken us. They show us how easily we can drift from our center, how subtly we can lose touch with our soul. Loss nudges us back to our true home.
And in that discernment, that awakening, something is empowered.
We begin to listen more closely to our soul’s longings… to the people and experiences that carry depth, meaning, and truth. The suffering of loss and grief, in their transformative way, becomes a guide, beckoning us back toward a life that is not just full, but real. Loss hurts. Deeply. But within that hurt is a powerful, refining fire that clears away the unnecessary and illuminates the essential. And if we allow it, loss and grief do not just break us open… they show us, with startling clarity, power, and strength that we hardly knew we had.
Spiritual practice: Take your greatest loss and inspect how you have changed because of it. What power in that loss helped transform you? Is this power still working? If so, how? Do something creative that expresses this power and transformation. A poem, a painting, a drawing, a sculpture. Could it be expressed in a dance or a song… or in an instrumental piece?
Self-inquiry: Tell me some things that your soul has had to let go of and how this happened.
Prayer:
I pray that the power of my losses grows ever stronger, a gift of clarity and truth. Amen
