Grief is a good and necessary part of dealing with loss. A necessary evil, if you will. I believe it is easier analyzed when looking a particular situations or losses. Take Prince Charles' Lady Diana, and our recent loss of James Brown. Lady Di was seen as such a tragedy; a tragic loss, if you will. She was such an innocent: a young teacher caught up in the pomp and circumstance of Englandish, if not outlandish, royalty, then scandal and tabloid exploitation. The same exploitation fueled the paparazzi that chased her limo to the tragic end of a car wreck and multiple deaths. Lady Di, a true innocent, mother, beauty, dieing young; leaving behind young children to be raised by an estranged spouse in a corrupt system of royal family. The whole world seemed to mourn this loss. Then more recently, there was James Brown. A master musician and icon of the Afro-American struggle for freedom and respect. He lived a long, lucrative life, accomplishing much, revered by multitudes, and dying in an honorable old age. Mourned by many, but differently, respectfully, and with a sense of resolution. Loss, mourning, grieving in both situations, but one a timely death, a timely loss; the other, so untimely, so tragic. Here lies one of the key differences causing people to grieve so differently. With faith in an afterlife, in a Creator who is in ultimate control of the universe, there is completion and a sense of fruition when we see a life end in old age with a completion of their life's work, and accomplishment of their goals. Conversely, when we see someone die young, with young children, weather by accident or illness, it seems so untimely and abrasive to nature and God's system. Yet, if we still believe in faith, and God's control over His creation, we try to reconcile our faith with our circumstances, maybe even adjusting our world view to try to unify our beliefs with our experience.
