A Grace Disguised

A week ago I tried to recommend a great book on grief and loss - and royally messed up the title AND the author! The book that I'm reading is A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser - subtitle is How the Soul Grows through Loss.

Here's what I read tonight:

"Gifts of grace come to all of us. But we must be ready to see and willing to receive these gifts. It will require a kind of sacrifice, the sacrifice of believing that, however painful our losses, life can still be good - good in a different way than before, but nevertheless good. I will never recover from my loss and I will never get over missing the ones I lost. but I still cherish life... Moreover, I will always want the ones I lost back again. I long for them with all my soul. But I still celebrate the life I have found because they are gone. I have lost, but I have also gained. I lost the world I loved, but I gained a deeper awareness of grace. That grace has enabled me to clarify my purpose in life and rediscover the wonder of the present moment."

I can't say my soul echoes these sentiments completely, but the experience of the author who lost his wife, his mother, and his daughter in a terrible car accident - and the manner in which has sought to go through his loss - gives him credibility to speak to me in the tragic loss of my son. Much to chew on and process...