Thoughts from the journey.

I've been reflecting on a vast number of ideas since my dad's death. Here are a few quotes from two books that have been helpful to me. These authors have given words to the emotions that I've been processing, although I still fear the level of sorrow both of these men have had to pass through in their own faith journeys.

Thanks to Marcia Everett for sharing these books and authors with me.

"Our sense of personal identity depends largely on the roles we play and the relationships we have. What we do and who we know contributes significantly to how we understand ourselves....Loss is like undergoing an amputation of our identity....Loss thus leads to a confusion of identity. Since we understand ourselves in large measure by the roles we play and the relationships we have, we find ourselves in a vertigo when these are changed or lost....

This crisis of identity, however, can lead to the formation of a new identity that integrates the loss into it....We need someone greater than ourselves to help us forge a new identity. God is able to guide us on this quest, to help us become persons whose worth is based on grace and not on performance, accomplishments, and power." (from Sitter, A Grace Disguised)

"It is said of God that no one can behold his face and live. I always thought this meant that no one could see his slendor and live. A friend said perhaps it meant that no one could see his sorrow and live. Or perhaps his sorrow is splendor.

And great mystery: to redeem our brokenness and lovelessness the God who suffers with us did not strike some might blow of power but sent his beloved son to suffer like us, through his suffering to redeem us from suffering and evil.

Instead of explaining our suffering, God shares it." (from Wolterstorff, Lament for a Son)