Here's our first Book of the Month Review! This month's book: Making Sense of Suffering, by Wayne E. Brickey. I LOVE this book!!!
My grandmother gave this book to my mom and our family after my grandfather passed away as a gesture of thanks and consolation. Little did she or we know that she'd given us a gift to help us mourn her own death when she passed away from cancer only three months later. Just thinking about that time makes me tear, it was very, very H.A.R.D. HARD.
I didn't start read Making Sense of Suffering until a couple of months ago. Brickey organizes his book into four main sections: The Gift of Growth, Endure it Well, Beneath Watchful Eyes and God Shall Exalt Thee. Each section has several chapters, only a few pages long, which are little vignettes that can be read and taken alone. I really liked this format because I could read one or more sections a day that I was pulled towards and could skip from one to another as I pleased. It just so happened that I started reading the book when some particular events were happening in my life that I needed a lot of perspective on. Making Sense of Suffering far fulfilled every need I had for insight in chapters that I wouldn't have expected. Each of these chapters are truly jewels for the heart and mind.
Here are a few gems Brickey offers in his book:
"Trouble is an essential part of the plan of salvation for the same reason that buildings require a foundation. The base we build in this life stays with us ever after. Preparing to meet God is deep work. Perhaps finishing touches can be added later, but the foundation, including patience and cheer, must be set early." ~Pg. 13
"Some of our present circumstances may reflect previous agreements, now forgotten, but once freely made." ~Pg. 30
"Our worth is related to our potential for everlasting happiness. It is a big mistake to assign worth to one's self or another based on anything less...Joy in the private experience of a soul is the one treasure that must not be neglected and cannot be replaced." ~Pg. 77
"Constant, intense pain is a great consecrating purifier that humbles us and draws us closer to God's Spirit." ~Pg. 85
"[God's] chastening alters us, as the stone made precious by the agonies of nature or as gold refined by excruciating heat. What only glittered with possibility before is made glorious after. Pure gold is sometimes a symbol for the celestial, but it is just a symbol. The purified life is the real thing. And the Great Refiner personally supervises our transformation." ~Pg. 85
You'll have to read the book yourself to get the full effect and perspective it so readily gives. I recommend Making Sense of Suffering for everyone, no matter what your past or present circumstances may be, even if you are not going through deep suffering such as a serious illness or loss of a loved one. I have no doubt it can deliver comfort and insight to all.
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