And so we wait patiently, if the situation requires it, watching for gifts to come where we are. Look at the wonderful, exuberant flowers painted by the famous Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh. What grief, what sadness, what melancholy he experienced in his difficult life. Yet what beauty, what ecstasy!
Look at his vibrant paintings of sunflowers, who can say where the mourning ends and the dance begins? Our glory is hidden in our pain, if we allow God to bring the gift of himself in our experience of it. If we turn to God, not rebelling against our hurt, we let God transform it into greater good. We let others join us and discover it with us.
Henri Nouwen
Turn My Mourning into Dancing
Emerging From The Dark Night 