I have, unfortunately, been invited into a club I never signed up for–the Griever’s Club. It’s not that my losses are exceptional, but I have been desperate to find meaning and hope in them in order to survive them. I lost my best friend of over 25 years to cancer and lost my dad on the same day–two years later–from an unexpected heart attack. I have known grief in other ways, too: unexpected job loss, disease, my children’s health struggles. As a pastor and a follower of Christ, it has been important to me to wrestle honestly for my own faith, and on behalf of other hurting readers.
As I was researching St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila’s dark nightsfor my own book, May helped make sense of some of their language and ideas.
This book is a very helpful resource and guide, one of the best out there to help the reader understand the ancient spiritual concept known as the dark night of the soul. He unpacks its history, origins, purpose, and gives permission to the hurting reader to walk through a dark night without fear. May also moves the hurting, disillusioned reader to hope.
Now in paperback: a distinguished psychiatrist, spiritual counsellor and bestselling author shows how the dark sides of the spiritual life are a vital ingredient in deep, authentic, healthy spirituality.
Gerald G. May, MD, one of the great spiritual teachers and writers of our time, argues that the dark 'shadow' side of the true spiritual life has been trivialised and neglected to our serious detriment. Superficial and naively upbeat spirituality does not heal and enrich the soul. Nor does the other tendency to relegate deep spiritual growth to only mystics and saints. Only the honest, sometimes difficult encounters with what Christian…
This was a totally unexpected find at the airport, of all places, but I have read it several times, and I still page through it regularly. Written in bite-sized quotes with lovely illustrations, this book is the perfect companion for someone in grief (with “grief-brain”) who cannot imagine reading an entire book.
It has great, practical, and comforting tips for self-care, for honoring your pain and loss, all while reminding you to find ways to cling to hope, even as you grieve. A beautiful gift for others as well.
This beautiful book offers a gentle and honest guide for surviving the early days of grief-shock, trauma, disbelief-and beyond. In simple, easy-to-absorb pages composed of short, poetic text and spot illustrations, readers will begin to find the path they need to move through their grief, step by step. From grieving a sudden death or a long illness, someone hard to love or impossible to live without, anyone suffering a loss will see themselves and their grief reflected in these pages.
When author Paula Becker's son was killed in 2017, she reached for grief…
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
Faith is a good friend of mine, a prayer partner, in fact, and she knows what she writes. I always appreciate a writer with gravitas and lived experience of wilderness seasons.
Faith has gone to deep, dark places but remained incredibly hopeful and faithful. This book is filled with wisdom, fresh biblical insight, and an invitation to a deeper connection with God, even in difficult seasons.
Build a confident friendship with Jesus using practical techniques backed by timeless wisdom to carry you through seasons of difficulty and back to abundance—from pastor and speaker Faith Eury Cho.
“A kind guide to help us explore the riches of our friend and Savior, Jesus . . . You’ll love this book.”—Jess Connolly, author of You Are the Girl For the Job and Breaking Free From Body Shame
In tough times, we can become more familiar with pain than progress and more acquainted with loneliness than companionship. But what if the purpose of our faith is not to reach the…
I love Natasha’s voice and kindness when it comes to grief. She has been through so much loss herself, and so she knows what grief and unexpected loss try to steal from a person.
She invites the reader to simply be kind to themselves and teaches others how to come around grieving people with presence and without trying to “fix.” She offers a meaningful perspective on losses of all kinds.
It takes time and space to grieve well, but often our culture doesn't afford us these things. Drawing from her own experience with grief, Natasha Smith invites us into a reflection on what it means to grieve and how to cling to hope even in our darkest moments. Instead of providing quick-fix solutions, this book creates space for us to take time to just sit and grieve, learn, and heal in healthy ways.
In Can You Just Sit with Me? Smith provides personal stories, biblical reflections, relevant research, practical tools, and prayers that…
Gifts from a Challenging Childhood
by
Jan Bergstrom,
Learn to understand and work with your childhood wounds. Do you feel like old wounds or trauma from your childhood keep showing up today? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with what to do about it and where to start? If so, this book will help you travel down a path…
I had the advantage of reading an early copy of this book because Catherine is one of my closest friends. She and Jason have put their fingers on the pulse of what happens to your faith when you hit a crisis point or a trauma–and how that doesn’t have to lead to the untangling or shattering of all you believed.
Rather, there is a refining and freedom that comes from facing a mid-faith crisis and it can move you to a place of maturity, seasoning, and unburdened faith.
Navigating the Storm: Understanding the Crisis of Faith
Many of us embarked on our spiritual journeys filled with hope and certainty, only to find ourselves questioning the very foundation of our beliefs as life unfolded. The faith that once seemed unshakeable may falter in the face of broken trust, unanswered prayers, and the harsh realities of worldly suffering. But you're not alone―mid-faith crises are a shared human experience that can feel isolating yet are a crucial part of our spiritual journey.
In Mid Faith Crisis, authors Catherine McNiel and Jason Hague provide a compassionate exploration of this challenging phase. With…
None of us is exempt from loss. We lose what we expected, what we thought we believed, our sense of security or identity. We lose friendships and people we love. What do we do with the disruption, disorientation, and devastation of loss? How do we survive unpredictable grief, ongoing suffering, and the questions about God that happen on the dark nights of our lives?
In this book, author and pastor Aubrey Sampson writes through the illness and death of her best friend, offering raw, real, and fought-for spiritual wisdom and practical insights for loss, grief, and doubt. It not only helps us locate ourselves on the journey of loss but gives honesty, hope, and direction for what’s ahead.
Gifts from a Challenging Childhood
by
Jan Bergstrom,
Learn to understand and work with your childhood wounds. Do you feel like old wounds or trauma from your childhood keep showing up today? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with what to do about it and where to start? If so, this book will help you travel down a path…
As a Veteran, I once dismissed Christianity, viewing it as outdated and irrelevant.
But as I witness the West sliding into chaos, I realize how wrong I was. It is no accident that Christianity is under assault while the West is being overwhelmed by a cultural virus that sows discord…
