Assaulted by Grief

The purpose of this book, Assaulted by Grief: Finding God in the Broken Places, is simply to touch the messy world of grief. Grief is synonymous with profound loss and executes its reign in different corners of life's journey in different forms. The focus of the book is to stand in the valley of the shadow of death. Death is the incontrovertible fact and universal reality of life. To live is to die and to die is to leave those behind with a "shatteredness" and brokenness that stains the journey of life. Grief is the weight of loss and attacks all who stand in her path. Hence, the title that juxtaposes the "assault of grief" and the grace, hope, and mercy found on God's watch as we wander through the dark wasteland. This book seeks to eavesdrop on those who have walked the trail of personal tears and lost their own flesh and blood through tragedy. It also offers a series of clinical pastoral responses to those assaulted by grief and a collection of theological possibilities drawn from the biblical texts that engage those who find themselves in the broken places or those who reach out to those floundering in the vortex of life's ultimate losses.