Spiritual Grief

Suffering can strike anyone at any time - the death of a loved one, the loss of a job. No one would suggest that you should seek out suffering. And, no one would say that you should love suffering. In fact, suffering is not a being and, therefore, cannot be loved. But, these five insights about suffering will help you consider the value of suffering in a new light. Gerardine Guadagno shares stories of people who have lived through (or are still experiencing) suffering. She offers their examples of how to take a spiritual reality and put it into practice in a transformative way.

The apostle Peter described faith as "much more precious than gold that perishes". As gold passes through purifying fire, so Peter says a man's faith must be tried in order that it "might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7). While we address the crises in our lives that try our faith, we rarely praise God the way Job did, and we rarely submit ourselves to the purifying fire as Peter suggests.

From the best-selling author of small-town romance novels and poetry, including Old Flame and Pieces of You, comes a new collection of reflective prose. Thoughtfully written, Echo explores the powerful and musing themes of love, life, loss and family ties from an intimate vantage point. This is real. It’s life. At times, it’s light. At others, it’s heavy. But we keep going because we must—because, frankly, it’s all we can do, sometimes. But maybe, just maybe, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll discover a quieter reason for trudging onward. Deep in our souls, I think we keep...