Times Of Tragedy And Moments Of Grace

Overview

The author recognizes that the season of grief can be a time of profound spiritual struggle. The stages of grief may facilitate a natural healing process, but they also present the sufferer with an array of seductive means to subvert that process. In times of tragedy, people frequently find themselves trying to avoid reality, to escape it, or to protest against it. While these may be natural impulses at first, it is all too easy to become entrapped permanently in the coping styles adopted at such times. By pursuing potentially harmful strategies, and by refusing to leave a stage of grief when it is time to do so, persons can stray from the pathway to healing and become mired in a life of unfaith.

In order to deal with this danger, the book discusses the stages of grief and healing within what is believed to be a more comprehensive and spiritually significant model than the classic five-stage one identified by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. This new model proposes additional stages, and reorganizes the structure of grief to reflect the spiritual struggles of persons faced with tragic losses.

Times of Tragedy and Moments of Grace should not be viewed primarily, however, as setting forth a new theoretical model, but as a window into the real-life journey of grief. The chapters are presented in a down-to-earth style, providing grieving persons with the ability to understand their various emotional states, to clarify the issues of faith implicit in them, and to make conscious what are often unconscious choices about coping with and adapting to the changes in their lives.

Grief occurs in many types of situations where a significant loss has occurred. While most chapters touch on death, the book also uses examples and narratives about other personal tragedies, such as those due to disabilities, divorces and job losses. Furthermore, unlike many books about grief, the examples and discussions of death are not limited to non-violent ones. Suicide and murder cannot be ignored in a volume such as this, because they create unique dimensions of suffering, and often generate major crises of faith.

This book is also unique in its style. It utilizes an initial discussion of the chapter topic, followed by a narrative. The combination in each chapter is designed to achieve understanding and to facilitate healing. As cognitive therapy in psychology has shown, how we think about our problems can determine whether or not we find healing. The chapter discussions help readers to reshape their cognitive understandings of their feelings and circumstances.

But improved thinking is only part of the therapeutic answer. Spiritual growth is also necessary. Most people, who go through difficult times, find that friends who have journeyed through similar experiences can offer the best help and hope. Through the chapters of this book, the reader will not only gain cognitive insight, but also will meet new friends undergoing various phases of their own grief and struggle. And they will learn from them and be inspired by them.

Each of the chapters describes a different person's struggle, his or her crisis of faith, and the destructive and constructive choices faced. Each character in the book illuminates a different aspect of the grieving journey. Through this approach Times of Tragedy and Moments of Grace invites its readers to experience the contribution that faith can make in successfully negotiating the stages of grief generated by personal tragedy. And, in the midst of their own journeys through tragic times, it encourages the readers to grow into a deeper and more profound faith and understanding.