Made Holy by Grief

From the Morgan Greer Tarot, the Three of Swords; from the Gods and Titans Oracle, Ganesha:

          Loss can make us physically hurt, withdraw and create anxiety. The mind separates our life into chapters, those before the separation and those afterward. It constantly spins out questions: "How can I live without their love and laughter? How can I survive this pain I feel? Will I ever stop fearing the future without them?" Joan Sutherland suggests that we are not meant to 'cure' grief but to experience it as a holy season of life. Its pain can help initiate us into a new season. Trying to be tough and repress what we feel isn't healthy; as Omid Safi wrote, "Unprocessed grief always lashes out in ignorant, unhelpful ways." Yet Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu god known for removing obstacles, shows us another way. All Hindu gods have a 'vehicle' or mount, like Durga's tiger or Saraswati's swan. Ganesha's is a rat, a bit ironic since elephants are supposed to fear rodents. Ganesha tells us to allow our fear of separation to mold us into compassionate and kind beings, knowing that we share this same pain with the whole world.