Customer Reviews

Grieving: Your Path Back to Peace (Crisis Points)

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This is a fantastic book! In only 87 pages, he touches on almost all aspects of grief. I am particulary impressed with his candid honesty.

Grief is messy and doesn't come in neat packages. He allows the reader his or her mess and offers simple, small steps towards recovery. I especially appreciate his candor when he says, 'God is big enough to handle your anger and your probing.' Because the truth of the matter is that, in death, we become angry over the loss and void we feel.

With that said, I want to leave you with a quote from his book! 'The more vital a part of our life that person was, the more deeply we will feel the loss, and the longer it will take to transition from what was to what is.'

I understand this so completely! When my grandmother died, I missed her but she wasnt a part of my every waking moment. When my daughter died, it was as though I had died. It was as though a part of me withered away and it has been nearly four years. I am still working through the loss. Yes, it has gotten easier, but it is still a part of me.

Alyice
http://goodmourninglord.com

Another young widow gave me this book when my husband died. She said, "I know that people will send lots of books to you as they did for me. I don't know about you, but I certainly had no desire to read them. But I did read this one and it was a great blessing! It's not thick and it is easy to read."
Upon her recommendation, I read "Grieving: Our Path Back to Peace." It became my good counselor and reference point during the first year of widowhood. I referred to it many times and now I buy multiple copies to have on hand to give away.
Mr. White has experience as a hospital chaplain. He explains that the grieving process is best understood as a spiral: it includes the classic stages of grief, but we tend to revolve in and out of them, sometimes over and over again, rather than get through one stage and pass on to another. Also, the way we process and handle the grief can put us on the upward path to peace, or the downward path to despair.
This was comforting to me. Because of the circumstances of my husband's death I was in the "Numbness/Shock" phase for a long time, and I had little of the anxiety or anger responses that often accompany grief. This book helped me understand my emotions, know that they were normal, and know that God was right there with me. Two very simple charts helped me identify where I was at and where I was headed. It helped me put my feelings into words; to identify my feelings during this confusing and exhausting time was no small feat.
This book is full of practical advice and help. Not a word is wasted. It's a quick read, yet it touches all the important stuff, even anger towards God. It includes the tough questions--DID God allow this? and WHY did God allow this?--and handles them with honesty and compassion.
Whether the grief is over a spouse, a friend, a grandchild, son or daughter, this book is an excellent resource. It is written for both men and women, young and old. It's written with a high view of God, wise counsel, and practical advice and application. I've tried to be brief, there's far more than I can relate in a few paragraphs, but I'm sure you'll want more than one copy.

Excellent resource for someone grieving the loss of a loved one. Mr White leads ever avenue back to the comfort of Christ. A great resource and a soothing ministry tool.

I lost my mother in February 2008 a month after I had my daughter. It has been a little over a year and I am continuing to progress. This book teaches that grieving is a process and that the time frame of grieving is different for each person. I highly recommend this book.

I have yet to lose someone in my immediate family to death, and yet, by reading this book I can better empathize with those that have lost a loved one.

I believe that the part of this book that struck me the most enlightening was the idea that we mourn because of change--as humans we don't like change even though we are in an ever changing world. We don't like the finality, and being forced to come to terms with the fact that our life has changed and will continue to change and go on without the person that was once an integral part of our life.

White argues that we must go through grief with hope in order to be able not to be engulfed in despair. We cannot put off dealing with grief, and it is a process.

He concludes with some very practical advice about some of the pitfalls that will come in the following months and years--how to prepare for that first anniversary, holiday, etc.

Overall, I believe this is a great book and would recommend it to anyone who knows someone who is going through the grieving process--either as a gift, or as an aid as you try to comfort them through the process.