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Grief touches all of our lives, but it does not have to paralyze us with fear or inaction. God allows suffering because He knows how powerful it can be to our spiritual lives and to helping us fully embrace His love and mercy. In this insightful and practical book, you'll learn how to live a life of redemptive suffering that will draw you through grief into a state of tenacity, meaning, holiness, and joy. Author Jeannie Ewing is no stranger to suffering. Her family has long struggled with bipolar disorder and depression, and her baby daughter was born with a rare genetic disorder that caused her bones to prematurely fuse together. Despite the many layers of sadness, loss, confusion, and anger, Jeannie responded to God's calling and transformed her life into one with profound purpose and joy. Combining her training in psychology and counseling with real-life examples, Jeannie will show you that there is much life to be lived in the midst of loss.… (more)
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Ewing writes intelligently and compassionately about grief, its manifestations, and what we can gain from engaging with our grief. She devotes a fair amount of attention to the fact that grief, real grief, can some from things others may not recognize as that level of loss: divorce, loss of a job, death of a pet, other things that those not experiencing them may regard more lightly. "At least no one died." Many challenges in life can cause real grief that we need to acknowledge and deal with.
She also discusses the differences between clinical depression (Major Depressive Disorder) and grief. It's important to get proper medical treatment for depression, which is in fact a physical illness of the brain. Grief is not, but rather an appropriate emotional response to major loss, but well-intentioned medical professionals and others may mistake it for depression and encourage depression-appropriate treatment.
I found this a rich and rewarding read, but it is closely grounded in Catholic belief, tradition, doctrine, and theology. For readers who are not Roman Catholic or Roman Catholic-adjacent in their beliefs, it may be less rewarding and helpful.
With that caveat, this is a very good book. Recommended.