Times of Tragedy and Moments of Grace is written for all those among us who have experienced a life-changing loss. It is a guide for negotiating the struggles of faith that so often accompany personal tragedies, and for finding and developing the spiritual resources to survive the darkest days of grief and suffering. It is about the willingness to learn, to change, and to grow, in the midst of pain and sorrow, and about emotional and spiritual recovery. And it is a testimony to the mysterious power of God through faith to transform events experienced as radical suffering, and to use them for good.
Unlike a number of works dealing with faith and suffering, this book does not seek to explain the meaning of suffering by theoretical discussion of the problem of evil. Rather, it explores the journey of grief in the context of faith. To accomplish this, it reinterprets, revises, and expands the Kübler-Ross model of the stages of grief. And it illuminates them with psychological insights, Scriptural understandings, and spiritual wisdom from the journeys of others.
Following a brief discussion, in each chapter, of a specific struggle associated with a particular stage of grieving, readers will find a narrative illustrating the forms of unfaith and faith which may occur along the path to recovery. And they will find practical advice, words of encouragement, and inspiration for their own times of tragedy.
