Religious Grief

Thirty short-yet-powerful morning and evening reflections offer encouragement, hope, and inspiration to people dealing with a life-threatening illness, and to their family members and caretakers. Here are honest insights and personal stories from a pastor who continues his own journey with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's disease".

Texas businessman Mike Fechner had it all. Money. Investments. Prestige. Until he did the unthinkable. He sold his company and poured his life's earnings into a ministry for the poor. With a strong faith in God at his core, this millionaire turned missionary envisioned a long future serving the urban Dallas poor and the people of poverty-stricken Africa.

On a February day in 2008, Forrest Church sent a letter to the members of his congregation, informing them that he had terminal cancer; his life would now be measured in months, not years. In that remarkable letter, he wrote: "In more than one respect, I feel very lucky." He went on to promise that he would sum up his thoughts on the topics that had been so pervasive in his work-love and death-in a final book.

When the oldest of Kate Braestrup's four children was 10 years old, her husband, a Maine state trooper, was killed in a car accident. Stunned and grieving, she decided to pursue her husband's dream of becoming a Unitarian minister. She eventually began working with the Maine Game Warden Service, which conducts the state's search-and-rescue operations when people go missing in the wilderness.

In what was to become the deadliest attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor, the Oklahoma City bombing was one in a long line of violent attacks that have left communities across the nation searching for healing and hope. With the soaring message of the power of love to conquer evil, Grace from the Rubble tells the intertwining stories of four captivating individuals

Through captivating stories and with disarming honesty, Bussie gives concrete, practical strategies to help listeners cultivate hope, seek joy, practice accompaniment, compost their pain, and rediscover the spiritual practice of lament. Tackling difficult questions without political divisiveness, Bussie speaks to both progressive and conservative Christians in ways that unite rather than divide.

Before May 31, 2008, September Vaudrey's life was beautiful. But on that day, with one phone call from the ER, her whole world - everything she knew and believed - was shaken to the core. Katie, her 19-year-old artist daughter, had been in a car accident and would not survive. How does a family live in the wake of devastating tragedy? When darkness colors every moment, is it possible to find light? Can God still be good, even after goodbye?

In this unabridged audio download, Letters from the Land of Cancer, award-winning writer Walter Wangerin Jr. offers his profound insights into the greatest challenge we face: confronting our own mortality. Diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in January 2006, Wangerin began writing letters to his friends and family members. Now he offers these intimate letters to all who ask questions about living and dying well.

The author attempts to put her life back together following her fiance's tragic skiing accident and, amidst the shattered pieces, searches for hope in a God who heals even unimaginable pain.

Anne affirms that Heaven truly is the home of your dreams: a home of lasting value that's fully paid for and filled with family, where you will be wanted and welcomed. Best of all, Heaven is a home you are invited to claim as your own. With over 40 percent new and revised content, Anne Graham Lotz has updated her classic book on Heaven for a whole new generation of listeners, and also for herself. With her father, mother, and husband now gone, Lotz beautifully adds her own vulnerability and stories to the journey contained in Heaven: My Father's House.

A Journey Through Grief, Loss, Hope and Recovery will benefit those working through sorrow, and those comforting others. Choosing to thrive in the midst of trauma, loss, and illnesses that change lives forever for both young and old alike is the underlying message in this audiobook. It is never easy, but there is hope to thrive and not just survive the journey to recovery. In some way, pain, loss, and tragedy unmistakably touch all of our lives.

Grief is a personal journey that is often filled with unexplained emotions and numberless moments of walking side-by-side with Christ, praying for words, wisdom, and answers. In a candid collection of narratives, stories, and poetry shared to help those struggling with loss, Mark Lanford offers an inspirational glimpse into his sometimes lonely, sometimes supported walk through heart-shattering grief after losing his wife of forty-two years.

One man’s journey through life that is both unbelievable, yet true. From his young and invincible character to his tragic knee bending brokenness, he comes to learn that God wounds before he heals. It’s a journey that few people will ever experience, and one that comes with an incredible amount of emotional pain and suffering. In the end, he acknowledges that God’s sovereignty and providence far exceeds man’s ability to comprehend.

Sunsborne pitches darkly into another world. Often the world and characters is hazy, but ''Sunsborne'' is a true picture of the reality, conflict, and tensions. In the midst of a conflict torn situation there is love. Robin Wyatt Dunn presents an uncanny story of past and present, darkness and light. His way with language and its thick opacity create a stunning impact on the mind. If you are looking for ''meanings'', leave it. If you are looking for legerdemain stunts, leave it. But if you are looking for a fabulous world, in mythic settings, here it is.

What if the dreaded world of Alzheimer's was also a world of emotional discovery? Eugenia Zukerman's poetry and simple prose, both heartbreaking and ultimately inspirational, ushers the listener into her world as she unflinchingly examines familial loyalties, moments from her past and present, and the need to face an uncertain future due to the diagnosis of a condition that she truly hopes "will remain unnamed."

In Conversation is a personal milestone in Janice Whyne's journey of rediscovering her creative self. She sees poetry as a means of self-expression. A conduit and a safe space for our emotions, feelings and lived experiences. The poems in In Conversation began their lives with a word(s) exchanged in conversation or that captured her attention in something she was listening to or viewing. She regards them as articulations of the said and unsaid, with the poetic voice in them not always hers but rather an expression or interpretation of the voice(s) of others.

Various poetry, ranging from silly to serious.

This exciting collection of free-form poetry with over 40 poems by Susan J. Farese, MSN, RN, is a sharing of both professional and personal thoughts and feelings. Susan is a strong advocate of the creative use of poetry to express the wonderment, frustration, dedication, and the love of nurses for their profession and their patients.

Chiara Luce, a girl full of vitality, suddenly fell gravely ill. And, strangely, moment by moment, a new life full of light began to unfold for her. She was 18 when she died, yet she had lived to the full. On September 25, 2010, Chiara Luce was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI and is now known as "Blessed Chiara Badano".

Innermost is a collection of both free-verse and fixed-verse poetry written over a period of half a decade about every emotion felt inside the human heart. These poems will transport you to a whole other world within the innermost depths of the human soul.