I was recently asked this question and here is my answer:
I am going to a funeral of a friend’s dad shortly, so my first thought is:
“Are we not privileged to feel anything?”
These lines from Rumi’s The Guest House – regarding the new arrivals that come unexpectedly into our world each day – a joy, a depression, a meanness – feel apt:
“Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond. “
Rumi encourages us to be gracious hosts.
And how might we be gracious hosts?
We might listen deeply to what it is our guests are saying.
To what they are not saying.
We might ask:
Why have you come?
What message do you have for me?
What question are you asking me?
It is ultimately about taking time to listen to those voices within us that may have gone unheard.
Start Close In by David Whyte (read by the author) touches on this theme.
