Tuesday, November 30, 2021

FINDING MEANING IN SUFFERING AND DEATH (This Season of Grief Book Review)

Grieving is uncomfortable because we are not usually trained to make sense of our losses. It disrupts our entire being, reinforces deeper self-awareness and compels us to be vulnerable and emotionally defenseless. This Season of Grief provides a vivid picture of these certainties. Readers shall surely partake of this experience with an open heart, soul and mind. 

As C.S. Lewis accurately put it: pain is God’s megaphone to a deaf world which ignores His dealings. To endure the process of grieving, we must appreciate His raison d’etre for this season of anguish. Villanueva’s exposition of Biblical lament dismantles popular notions about rejoicing and praise among “triumphalist” believers. That God’s children need to recognize the value of weeping as circumstances require it. That it is OK to refrain from singing happy songs if your crushed spirit does not call for it.  Prayers of lament are, therefore, in order (Reyes). 

Personal anecdotes are not mere stories (Abiva, Caparos, Rodriguez, Tiongson-Manalang, Lucas, Nicolas-Na, Torres, Sarile-Alagao, Huang). They are divine-inspired narratives which reveal God’s unseen hands even in the darkest period of our lives. He has been with our medical frontliners as they go through their “valleys of shadow of death” (Gonzales-Lim). He sustains  workers struggling with work-from-home setup (Batac) and provides for those who resorted to online selling just to make both ends meet (Ang). 

This pandemic accentuates the need for emphatic listening, tactful words and ministry of presence (Arandia, Malibiran-Salumbides). It invites us to acknowledge that peace and chaos can co-exist. There is value in the acceptance of the inevitable and exercise of self-care (Torres). We should, therefore, befriend grief in various ways (Manzanilla-Manalo). 

The year 2020 was undeniably an “annus horribilis” (disastrous year) for the entire humanity. Yet, God has been working in different ways to shape His and church and His children. This pandemic season could be a “time-out” for our “romanticized version” of the old normal. CoVid was the great revealer of our socio-cultural pathologies (Maggay) and fragmented national consciousness (Pasion). Church leaders were compelled to rethink their ecclesiology (Pabiona) and how they should sustain their ministries affected by a downtrodden economy (Cura and De Guzman). Moreover, tragedies are opportunities for believers to be the “salt and light” of the world. We are compelled by Christ’s love to reach out to the needy and the marginalized (Estrada, Ngo). 

This volume would surely be revisited by the generations to come not only because of its historic relevance but moreso due to its psycho-spiritual value. What’s personal is, indeed, the most universal. Honest misgivings toward God’s love and sovereignty amidst deaths of loved ones and loss of cherished properties are uncovered and Biblically-processed. 

Chapters provide a confluence of existential emotions but all of them culminate with a tinge of hope and blessedness. Death is indeed God’s mechanism to usher us into His presence (p. 38). Grief is also an instrument for us to appreciate God’s grace and peace (p. 50). Huang beautifully captures the book’s essence: that “we can grieve our losses not just in the private darkness of our thoughts but also by the light, the presence of God, and His Word” (p. 130).

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