A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss [Hardcover]

Jerry Sittser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2004

An expanded edition of this classic book on grief and loss---with a new preface and epilogue Loss came suddenly for Jerry Sittser. In an instant, a tragic car accident claimed three generations of his family: his mother, his wife, and his young daughter. While most of us will not experience such a catastrophic loss in our lifetime, all of us will taste it. And we can, if we choose, know as well the grace that transforms it. A Grace Disguised plumbs the depths of sorrow, whether due to illness, divorce, or the loss of someone we love. The circumstances are not important; what we do with those circumstances is. In coming to the end of ourselves, we can come to the beginning of a new life---one marked by spiritual depth, joy, compassion, and a deeper appreciation of simple blessings.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

An expanded edition of this classic book on grief and loss—with a new preface and epilogue Loss came suddenly for Jerry Sittser. In an instant, a tragic car accident claimed three generations of his family: his mother, his wife, and his young daughter. While most of us will not experience such a catastrophic loss in our lifetime, all of us will taste it. And we can, if we choose, know as well the grace that transforms it. A Grace Disguised plumbs the depths of sorrow, whether due to illness, divorce, or the loss of someone we love. The circumstances are not important; what we do with those circumstances is. In coming to the end of ourselves, we can come to the beginning of a new life—one marked by spiritual depth, joy, compassion, and a deeper appreciation of simple blessings.

About the Author

Jerry Sittser (PhD, University of Chicago) is a professor of religion at Whitworth College. He holds a master of divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary and a doctorate in history from the University of Chicago. He is the author of several books, including When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayer and The Will of God as a Way of Life. SPANISH BIO: Gerald L. Sittser es profesor de religion y filosofia en Whitworth College en Spokane, Washington. Ostenta un titulo de maestro en divinidades obtenido en el Seminario Teologico Fuller y un doctorado en historia de la Universidad de Chicago. Es escritor de muchos libros incluyendo. Cuando Dios No Contesta tu Oracion. Y La Voluntad de Dios Como una Salida de la Vida.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; Expanded edition (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310258952
• ISBN-13: 978-0310258957
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #25 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Death & Grief

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading for Counselors and Pastors, April 20, 2005

By 

Eric S. Kim (La Crescenta, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss (Hardcover)

Personal Impact

A Grace Disguised by Gerald Sittser has impacted me in a rare and profound way. Never have I read a book that tackles the heart of the issue of suffering and the heart of humanity harmoniously and with such eloquence as Sitter's. Sittser engages his audience by peeling away the layers of his thought and into the depths of the pain that he suffered when his mother, wife, and youngest daughter were killed instantly after a head-on collision with a drunk driver. It is plain to see that he has spent countless hours in agony, reasoning out his thoughts, struggling with his faith, and just in living an ordinary life after the accident. The reader is a helpless and captive audience as he describes how he dealt with spiritual issues such as faith in God's sovereignty and emotional issues such as the inability to forgive. Through it all, Sittser recognized that he can never get over the tragedy, but he can allow it to grow him through the choices he makes in response to it.
Personally, by the grace of God, I have never had to experience the mental, emotional, and spiritual anguish of such a tragedy. But after reading this book, I know that I am better prepared to deal with any such occurrence in my life for the future. Sittser's writing made me admire the resiliency of the human spirit, and also appreciate the role of faith in overcoming devastating loss. Sittser was able to overcome his anguish largely because of his well-grounded faith in the promises of God, and his faith in the absolute standards of morality and justice of which God is the source. I can only hope to be able to handle catastrophic losses (which he points out are inevitable) with such grace and sound mind. At the very least, this book made me appreciate all that I have at this moment, especially my wife, my family, and all who I hold dear.

Ministry Impact

Many people respond in different ways to grief, and therefore to any remedy for it. There is no cure-all to the grief that catastrophic losses bring. However, Sittser is able to present a unique, first-hand perspective that may benefit many believers and non-believers alike in facing their loss and finding God's love and grace behind it. No one is able to connect with a mourner as much as another mourner. For the benefit of those situations where "just being there" is not enough, this book may be a welcome aide. It can be a gentle guide for the inconsolable spirit. I would suggest that anybody in pastoral ministry or counseling should read this book at least twice and internalize his main points in each chapter. I am likely to make this book a required reading for any staff that I train in the future. As every life is marked with times of great joy and times of great grief, I believe that all pastors should be prepared to face these events with their flock, whether those events are good or bad, and point toward God's hidden grace.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing and yet encouraging, August 23, 2006

By 

L. Koch (Oakdale, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss (Hardcover)

This book was both disturbing and encouraging at the same time. It was disturbing because I realized how short my own response to tragedy fell as I read Dr. Sittser's account. He stuggled mightily to understand whether his relationship with God could survive his personal tragedy. As he confronted the tough questions he did so honestly and not withholding his true questions and feelings. It was encouraging to see how the honesty of this theologian was used by God to bring healing and hope.
I am just now working through some of those questions 26 years after my wife died in an accident in which I was the driver. I only wish I could have dealt with those same questions in the years immediately following my loss and not so many years later. This book would have made such a difference in my life.
I highly recommend Dr. Sittser's book to anyone dealing with loss, whether recent or delayed such as mine. The chapter on the Sovereignty of God is perhaps the best treatment of that subject I have ever read.
Dr. Sittser's book on "The Will of God as a Way of Life" is a great followup to this book, as it gives practical ways to move on and discover what God would have you do with the experience of loss.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to be read over and over, January 16, 2007

By 

greenbeagle (Seminole, Fl United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss (Hardcover)

I discovered this book 10 years ago after the death of my older sister. I thought I stumbled across this book by accident at a bookstore, but I know now that it was no accident. I am reading this book for the third time and it will never be put away on a shelf. It has new meaning and insight each time I read it over again. This little book is a gift from God.