A new book from Christian M. M. Brady explores the role that lament plays in our grief
by Westminster John Knox Press | Special to Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE — Bible scholar Christian Brady was as prepared as a person could be for the death of a child — which is to say, not nearly well enough.
When his eight-year-old son Mack died suddenly from a fast-moving blood infection, Brady heard the typical platitudes about accepting God’s will and knew that quiet acceptance was not the only godly way to grieve. He cried out in despair, writing, “When we are in the midst of our anguish, there is no greater statement of faith than to express that despair honestly: ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?’”
With deep faith, knowledge of Scripture and the wisdom that comes only from experience, Brady finds license to lament, to grieve and to protest the injustice we experience in his new book, “Beautiful and Terrible Things: A Christian Struggle with Suffering, Grief, and Hope.”
Brady finds that rather than an image of God managing every event and action in our lives, the biblical account describes the very real world in which we all live, a world full of hardship and calamity that often comes unbidden and unmerited. Yet, it also is a world into which God lovingly intrudes to bring comfort, peace and grace.
“This thoughtful and heartfelt inquiry into biblical lessons on suffering will satisfy any theologically inclined Christian,” says Publishers Weekly.
These Bible-based reflections on hope and eternity allow readers to question and lament to God. Questions for reflection and a prayer at the end of each chapter make this book ideal for group or individual study.
“Beautiful and Terrible Things” is now available from Westminster John Knox Press.
Christian M. M. Brady is a professor of ancient Hebrew and Jewish literature and the inaugural dean of the Lewis Honors College at the University of Kentucky. He is also a priest in the Episcopal Church and is Canon Theologian in the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky.
You may freely reuse and distribute this article in its entirety for non-commercial purposes in any medium. Please include author attribution, photography credits, and a link to the original article. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeratives 4.0 International License.