Braving Sorrow Together by Ashleigh Slater

The transformative power of faith and community when life is hard.

While I think we are doing better now, for too many years I believe, grief and loss has been viewed as taboo subjects. You had a miscarriage? Well, please do not talk about it. That was barely a baby and certainly not worth grieving. You lost a job? Again, not worth mentioning. The only grief that seemed okay was the death of a real live person and even that you should quickly grieve, get over, and get back to normal life. I recognize I may be exaggerating this out of proportions and yet I think there is truth here.

Ashleigh opens the door for a better way: grief is to be mourned. People should come along side the person that is grieving regardless of how "big or small" the grief may be. They should come along side, not to offer advice and tips for moving on, but show they care and to walk beside them in their sorrow.

Ashleigh points out a lot of areas of grief that we might not think about on a regular basis. We acknowledge death as a reason to grieve, miscarriage is being more readily recognized as a loss, but Ashleigh talks about loss of relationships, loss of a job, loss of dreams even when they might be replaced by something better. She brings out a good point, recognizing the loss in our life and grieving it will ultimately enable us to be a better person. She doesn't advocate wallowing, she points you to Jesus as your constant in the world of change. She advocates community and finding a friend to talk to about what you are grieving.

I just thought the book provided a good balance to life. Life is full of losses and the sooner we are willing to recognize and mourn those losses, and bring them to Jesus and cling to Him more, the more stable of an individual we will be. That is in my own words.

Another aspect of the book that I like is she provides helpful ideas for how to walk with someone else who is grieving. And I think the one thing I want to say here and this is a quote from a young widow that Ashleigh references, "There are no words, no logic, that can soothe the grieving heart,.... Don't try to find the words to say that right thing because most likely you will end up saying the wrong thing. If you have to say something, don't underestimate the power of a simple, 'I love you."

I would recommend this book for you if you are grieving or if you have a friend who is grieving and you are wondering how to best help him/her.

I received this book from Moody Publishers and was not required to write a positive review.