Found this on the site of someone I love very much:
The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual something which is inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost.
~A. Schopenhauer
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RESOURCES FOR GRIEVING YOUNG PEOPLE
RESOURCES FOR SURVIVORS OF SUICIDE and PARENTS WHO HAVE LOST CHILDREN
The Desert
I began writing here in order to reflect my way through the first full calendar year after the sudden death in September 2008 of our beloved 24-year-old son. In no way am I able in mere words to plumb the depths of our family's sorrow, but at least here I can wade around a bit in the shallows. Or tread lightly in the expanse of desert that seems not to end. Whatever metaphor works. And, oh ~ I'm not alone. In the list below you'll find others who have written about the big losses of recent years. (Other posts - from the first four months - can be found on my regular blog, Search the Sea, indexed under Grief and Loss.)
THERE ARE OTHERS
Cloud of Topics
Advent
(5)
Algonquin
(2)
Art
(4)
Ashes
(3)
Beauty
(1)
Birds
(3)
Blogging
(9)
Bonhoeffer
(1)
Books
(12)
Care for the Grieving
(7)
Carpe Diem
(1)
Catholic
(2)
Cemeteries
(1)
Chartres
(2)
Chicago
(1)
Choosing Life
(1)
Christianity
(1)
Church
(11)
Church Year
(1)
CPE
(3)
Cremation Liturgy
(2)
Delp
(2)
Desert
(2)
Dreams
(1)
Easter
(3)
Experience
(3)
Faith
(2)
Family
(19)
Family and Friends
(8)
Family. Friends
(1)
Florida
(1)
France
(3)
Friends
(21)
Funerals
(1)
God
(3)
Gratitude
(2)
Grey's Anatomy
(1)
Grief
(4)
Guelph
(4)
Health
(3)
Hebrew
(9)
Holidays
(7)
Holocaust
(2)
Hope
(1)
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(1)
Humor
(1)
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(1)
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(3)
Incongruity
(1)
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(5)
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(2)
Judaism
(1)
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(1)
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(5)
Lent 2009
(5)
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(2)
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(1)
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(4)
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(5)
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(2)
Oregon
(2)
PC(USA)
(2)
Poetry
(4)
Prayer
(6)
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(3)
Retreat
(5)
Retreats
(2)
Rituals
(4)
Seminary
(27)
Sermons
(1)
Spiritual Direction
(12)
Spirituality
(6)
Suffering
(2)
Suicide
(38)
Surviving Loss
(104)
Television
(2)
The Process
(2)
Tikva
(1)
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(1)
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(3)
Youtube
(2)
7 comments:
Like an arrow to the heart, that one. Ow.
Mich
I find it strangely comforting. There is a lot to be said for the acknowledgment of the reality as opposed to the pat kind of thing people usually offer.
This statement is why I feel that both those who knew your son and those who will not have the opportunity, share your loss.
I know this is going to sound dumb, and maybe inappropriate to post here as a comment...
But, as you know, I just lost my eighteen-year-old kitty~~who I think qualified as a "friendly soul"...
I didn't want to cry when she died... She was old and she had a long and good life and a dignified death. So I wasn't sad for her. I was sad for me...and I felt silly. But your quote goes a long way toward helping me understand the emotion.
Thank you for posting it.
That sense of the irretrievable loss of each individual always applies.
Yes, I can see the comfort and truth in that statement, GG.
Mich
For some reason, Sage posted this on the feed this morning, more than a month after you posted it. I am at my desk, with tears in my eyes, but like you, I find this strangely comforting.
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