The Best Book on Grief
Mstar Blog #2
The Best Book on Grief
by R.S. Doaty
I may hold the world record for the most books read on grief!
Every Christmas, I can expect a newly released book about grief from my wife or kids. It is often accompanied by a funny story about someone at the bookstore who expresses their sympathy, only to learn from my family member that the book isn’t intended for someone in the throes of grief. It’s for their dad, who loves to read grief books. Really?
I have read amazing stories of love, loss, reconciliation, and newly found resilience. Some are gut-wrenching, others are inspiring, a few offer odd humor, and some are philosophical or scientific beyond my personal academic reach. Many are good, but only one stands out to me as the gold standard for grief reading.
It’s a story focused on a dad who lost both a son and a daughter at a very early age, at the same time. Both had been poisoned. There was foul play involved, to be sure. Many of the books I have read are from a mother’s perspective on the loss of a child. This book was different.
As I began to read the book, the father's grief was surprising at first. He is clearly upset with the perpetrator, but he also blames his kids. As I digest my grief books, I try to put myself in the shoes of the bereaved and empathize with their loss as the storylines progress. I wonder, how would I feel if I were them?
I have never lost a child. The thought of losing one of my children or grandchildren is beyond my comprehension. I don’t know what that dad was feeling or why he said and did what he had done in his earliest grief. That’s not mine to question.
As the book progresses, what is abundantly clear is the father’s immense love for his children and his seemingly unquenchable thirst for their presence. The simplest description of grief is the transition from a relationship of presence to one of absence. Grief reveals the bright and dark sides of love.
I cannot imagine the pain of my children being absent from me. I could only lament their loss. But this dad did something beyond my own ability. He dies for them.
His kids were Adam and Eve. And how young were they? We don’t know exactly, but in his 1,189-chapter book, they are lost in just the third chapter. His love for his children becomes increasingly clear in 1,186 chapters following their sad departure.
There is surely no greater love than a father who would die for his children. And there is definitely no one who understands grief better than a father who already lost millions of children he loves so deeply. Only God could endure this amount of grief.
Yes, my favorite book on grief is, in fact, The Bible. It is a tale of love, loss, reconciliation, and hope. Please read it!
The Best Book on Grief
by R.S. Doaty
I may hold the world record for the most books read on grief!
Every Christmas, I can expect a newly released book about grief from my wife or kids. It is often accompanied by a funny story about someone at the bookstore who expresses their sympathy, only to learn from my family member that the book isn’t intended for someone in the throes of grief. It’s for their dad, who loves to read grief books. Really?
I have read amazing stories of love, loss, reconciliation, and newly found resilience. Some are gut-wrenching, others are inspiring, a few offer odd humor, and some are philosophical or scientific beyond my personal academic reach. Many are good, but only one stands out to me as the gold standard for grief reading.
It’s a story focused on a dad who lost both a son and a daughter at a very early age, at the same time. Both had been poisoned. There was foul play involved, to be sure. Many of the books I have read are from a mother’s perspective on the loss of a child. This book was different.
As I began to read the book, the father's grief was surprising at first. He is clearly upset with the perpetrator, but he also blames his kids. As I digest my grief books, I try to put myself in the shoes of the bereaved and empathize with their loss as the storylines progress. I wonder, how would I feel if I were them?
I have never lost a child. The thought of losing one of my children or grandchildren is beyond my comprehension. I don’t know what that dad was feeling or why he said and did what he had done in his earliest grief. That’s not mine to question.
As the book progresses, what is abundantly clear is the father’s immense love for his children and his seemingly unquenchable thirst for their presence. The simplest description of grief is the transition from a relationship of presence to one of absence. Grief reveals the bright and dark sides of love.
I cannot imagine the pain of my children being absent from me. I could only lament their loss. But this dad did something beyond my own ability. He dies for them.
His kids were Adam and Eve. And how young were they? We don’t know exactly, but in his 1,189-chapter book, they are lost in just the third chapter. His love for his children becomes increasingly clear in 1,186 chapters following their sad departure.
There is surely no greater love than a father who would die for his children. And there is definitely no one who understands grief better than a father who already lost millions of children he loves so deeply. Only God could endure this amount of grief.
Yes, my favorite book on grief is, in fact, The Bible. It is a tale of love, loss, reconciliation, and hope. Please read it!
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