On Grief and Love stepping into bless us

One of my dearest friends lost her father recently and shared this quote below. Grief and death just isn't talked about much among my peers-- words of comfort or advice is usually given. Truly, until we have walked in someone else's shoes, we simply don't know everything they have been through. Any kind of loss: a loved one, a job, a marriage, a pet... brings grief, and it's process.

I'm always amazed when another layer of grief stops by to hold my hand again. This was comforting today:

"We can awaken while dying but we can also awaken while cleaning the cat sand. Perhaps the most deeply held justification we have for delaying our complete awakening is our belief that death is somehow transformational, or that our efforts to live a good life will be rewarded at that time....But what sense would it make for Love to wait for our organs to fail before stepping into bless us? It doesn't matter whether you view reported "near death experiences" scientifically or mystically, now continues to be the only time you can know God. And awareness of God is infinitely rewarding. The ego doesn't fade away merely because the body dies, and the eternal doesn't become more present after death. Why would it? Don't put off heaven. It surrounds you this very instant."~ Hugh Prather..Spiritual Notes to Myself.

"Practice dying means living as close to reality as we can in each moment. It is the ultimate bravery." This is from an earlier blog post on dying and includes a meditation that allowed me to draw awareness to releasing my fears of change that I tend to cling to.