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"I was desperate. . . . I couldn't turn off the dark thoughts, no matter how hard I tried or how much I prayed. And then I spent a whole weekend in bed, and the crying wouldn't stop, and I got really scared. I've had bouts with depression before--it's kind of a cloud I've learned to live with--but this time was different. I felt like I was going under, like I'd never feel hopeful again, and then that just made my anxiety worse and it all spiraled from there." Wren Crawford is a social worker who finds herself overwhelmed with the troubles of the world. Her lifelong struggles with anxiety and depression are starting to overcome her. She finds solace in art, spiritual formation, and pastoral care along with traditional therapeutic interventions. But a complicated relationship from her past also threatens to undo her progress. Fans of Sharon Brown's bestselling Sensible Shoes Series will be delighted to discover some old friends along the way. As Wren seeks healing in this beautifully written novel, readers are invited to move beyond pat answers and shallow theology into an experience of hope and presence that illuminates even the darkness"--Amazon.… (more)
User reviews
The story is about Wren, a late twenty-something social
Oh how I could have used this instructive story growing up with family members suffering with mental health issues. I just didn't have the tools to understand and cope effectively. The illness became another family member around which all activity revolved. Ms. Garlough Brown has delivered a compassionate, insightful and instructive book about understanding mental health issues endured 1) by those who suffer from it, 2) by "co-sufferers" - those who struggle to understand this disease which their loved ones are subjected to and 3) those who come alongside them and walk the darkness with them without losing their own sight. She shows us how one compassionately cares for those who struggle with mental illness and help them understand and accept God's love for them, just as they are are.
Ms. Garlough Brown's instructional use of the story of Vincent Van Gogh's own struggle with mental illness and the artworks which sprang forth during his institutionalized days, was enlightening and opened a whole new narrative regarding the life of the artist. Who knew he had desired serving the poor through ministry? So intensely so, that he was deemed mentally disturbed. It was through his paintings that we see his reaching for God in nature, toward the stars and by the wind blowing through the wheat. Perhaps, he had lost his faith in the organized church yet always longed for closeness to God.
There's a quote in the book by Vincent which truly moved me...
[Regarding a letter written by Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo...]
"There was a line in one of Vincent's letters to Theo that made her (Theo's wife) cry whenever she read it, that though there was a great fire in his soul, no one stopped to warm themselves by it. All people saw was a little wisp of smoke rising up from a chimney, and they passed by."
Such longing, sorrow and deep pain is so very evident. No wonder Vincent becomes a "companion in suffering and sorrow" for Wren.
I highly recommend this book to everyone wishing to understand a bit better what those who struggle with mental illness endure. I especially commend it to all social workers and church leaders serving people struggling with mental illness. It's informative, instructive and exquisitely written.
Synopsis (from book's back cover):
"I was desperate. . . . I couldn't turn off the dark thoughts, no matter how hard I tried or how much I prayed. And then I spent a whole weekend in bed, and the crying wouldn't stop, and I got really scared. I've had bouts with depression before--it's kind of a cloud I've learned to live with--but this time was different. I felt like I was going under, like I'd never feel hopeful again, and then that just made my anxiety worse and it all spiraled from there."
Wren Crawford is a social worker who finds herself overwhelmed with the troubles of the world. Her lifelong struggles with anxiety and depression are starting to overcome her. She finds solace in art, spiritual formation, and pastoral care along with traditional therapeutic interventions. But a complicated relationship from her past also threatens to undo her progress.
Fans of Sharon Brown's bestselling Sensible Shoes Series will be delighted to discover some old friends along the way. As Wren seeks healing in this beautifully written novel, readers are invited to move beyond pat answers and shallow theology into an experience of hope and presence that illuminates even the darkness.