Customer Reviews

Tracks of a Fellow Struggler: Living and Growing through Grief

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Following the death of our 39 year old daughter I was having trouble sleeping. However, the night I read this book I was overcome with a sense of peace and slept like a baby. John Claypool is a master of words, scripture and emotions ... pulling them together in a wonderfully readable manner. This is a "must read" for grieving parents. Rev. Claypool has given us a great gift which has grown out of his own personal pain.

John Claypool's honest about his pain after the death of his daughter. From the pulpit he does his congregation a favor by sharing his anguish with them, not hiding from it or trying to sugar-coat it. With Claypool's freedom to show his honest feelings, others who are forced onto the same parental bereavement path after the death of a child, can learn that "strugglers making tracks," need to be "given permission" to freely grieve. Congregations everywhere should have this book as required reading. How much more effective and kind (and Christ-like)we can all be when we understand a parent's broken heart. A friend sent Claypool's book to me shortly after the death of my own son and I have found the writing to be just what I needed.

My Jewish friend gave me Claypool's book when I lost my 29 year old son to a sudden heart attack. There is no hierarchy to pain over death of a loved one. This book can relate to all who suffer the pain of loss, but,especially the loss of a child. Learning to be grateful for the time we did have together has helped my husband and me. This book was simply written, but from the heart. I want to have one ready to give anyone who loses a child.

I was asked to teach a couples class for my Sunday School more than 15 years ago. I had not lost any relatives and didn't have a clue on the topic : Death and Dying. I wandered a book store and found this book: 4 sermons by Dr. Claypool that dealt with death, pain, and moving on. I read each sermon each week for four weeks, and at the end, the entire class wanted to buy the book. Many told me that it was the first thing they had ever read that helped them through the grief. When my own father-in-law died the next year, I found my classmates words to be true. The premise of the book, that the God that gives life is still there after the life is over, is very comforting. I buy this book and give it to friends who are suffering through the death of a close friend or relative. I cannot recommend anything more. This book is very spiritual, but a basic belief in God is all that is required to benefit from reading it.

I lost my husband in November 2005,even as I write this it doesn't seem

possible. I was given all the books on being a widow and all the platitudes about being in a better place,he's whole, he's happy....I didn't care, he wasn't here. Then I read this little book...John Claypool didn't need 200 pages to tell me what I needed to know...it was alright to

question God, I didn't need to accept that this was "Gods Will"...I could question, I could yell at God but ultimately everything is a gift...Using Job as his example he led me from despair to a measure of peace...I still hurt, a lot, but I try to remember that my husband was a gift, and I'm better for having him in my life. Mr Claypool has a gift for saying a lot in a little space...he lost his daughter and speaks from experience...he showed up in my life at the right time....this book is for the care of your soul.....Mr Claypool is a gifted,interesting writer and I look forward to reading more....

There are so many platitudes out there for a person wrestling with the angel of grief. Unlike all those false paths, this book produces a blessing.

John Claypool climbs into the circle of powerlessness felt by everyone experiencing grief, particularly those who know the heartbreak of grieving over the loss of children. After one has tried all the other paths to living with grief, he offers a path to hope. For many, this book has been a sanity saver.

Nearly 30 yrs ago since John first put these memorable words in print, they resonated in both his character and his teaching. In drama-filled preaching of sermons, teaching classes, conversing with his friends, he was perennially full of Hope: Shown in such titles as, "The Basis of Hope, Strength not to Faint, leading-up to, "Life is Gift." Most often his springboard was "Learning How to Handle Grief."

In 1986 we heard John for one week at Montreat during the Music Conference. In hearing his stories from these and other related sermons, I commited to write reviews for his books and getting into one of his classes. As I look backwards upon his preaching classes in McAfee School, he frequently returned to these same themes or stories for his discussions. He expressed his love for Prophets, Isaiah and Jeremiah, especially in those Commentaries of Walter Brueggemann. Most class sessions were continued thru conversations afterward also in reflection sermons to Prison Inmates.

During John's struggles thru years in Chemotherapy he maintained continual Hope, even in his final days of Rehab during Oncology!

Whenever our paths crossed, he most often concluded by "Fred, I really want to live." His early chapter, "My Basis of Hope," repeats a quote from the Jewish Rabbi in Louisville: "Despair is Presumptious!" This reprint may be continued in my other book reviews: "The Saga of Life and The Hopeful Heart." Gratefully into Eternity for his grace, peace & love, from one old friend, Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood

John Claypool was serving as pastor of one of the most influential Churches in this country. Then tragedy struck. His ten year old daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Tracks of a Fellow Struggler is a compilation of the sermons Claypool preached as he dealt with the emotional and spiritual issues surrounding the sickness and eventual death of his beloved child. What can I do? What should I do? What good is my faith? Is this fair? Can God still be trusted? These are the questions Claypool eloquently discusses, not from an ivory tower, but from his position of deep faith in the midst of his struggle. This book has encouraged me like no other book other than the Bible ever has. Every time grief enters my life, I find myself pulling it off the shelf, crying my way through it, and coming away with the strength I need to survive. At some time, we all will face grief in our lives. This is a book we should have on our shelves for just such a time.

We purchased this book for a friend who had recently lost his son. A co-worker gave us this same book 10 years ago after our daughter's tragic death in an automobile accident and it brought to us a sense of "you're not alone" in struggling with our feelings. Would highly recommend.

My husband bought this book many years ago after hearing the author speak. Although I was not dealing with a death it helped me through a very difficult time, I often picked it up and read portions for reassurance and a reminder of God's care for me. I loaned it to a friend dealing with death and it was never returned so I'm happy to find a source to replace it. For someone dealing with a critical illness and/or death of a child it would be especially helpful.