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).
