Customer Reviews

When the World Breaks Your Heart: Spiritual Ways of Living with Tragedy

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Feels a little like reading the news online about the latest airplane tragedy, but the author is dealing with the aftermath of an airplane crash some time back. Despite the time difference, the author's focus on the spiritual ways to deal with tragedies (whether the crash of an airplane, a car accident, a tornado, a divorce)seems very helpful and should spark some conversation among religious people and religious seekers. How do we find the answers to the mystery of tragedy? Clapper does not offer anything easy, though he writes in a way that is comprehensible. A book worth reading before the tragedy happens.

This book feels real. It talks about faith and spiritual resources in order to live in the aftermath of the disasters that happen. That simply happen. No one's fault. Just there. I've lived through tornadoes, hurricanes, divorce, deaths. Enough to ask the "Why" question, but that seemed like the stuff of a never-ending all-night conversation . This book assumes that the horrors happen and then it helps people receive the spiritual resources to live through the tragedies. That may sound easy, but the author is not a fundamentalist with pat and trite answers. Clapper shows his intelligence by insisting that we accept the Mystery--not passively quitting, but actively accepting and living with Mystery. That is not an answer I've seen very many church preachers give, but the author builds well on this premise.

Gregory Clapper was an Air National Guard chaplain in Iowa when United Airlines flight 232 crashed. Over one-hundred people. Clapper ministered to the families of the victims, those who survived, and even members of the various National Guard and governmental agencies involved in sifting the wreckage.

His book is not a thrill-seeking story. It is a thoughtful spiritual reflection on the crash. Clapper examines small interactions and relationships . In these reflections Clapper offers six resources for living with tragedy, something which we cannot escape. His resources range from embracing the essential mystery of life to releasing the tears to living with hope. This evocative book brings forth tears and joy and a sense of God's reign in the midst of imperfection.

Considering the numbers of tragic events (e.g., ethnic cleansing, high school and grade school shootings, natural disasters), this engrossing book is a must read.

You will find ways to cope with tradegy. Nothing is going to make the pain go away, but to find a balm is comforting.