Wolterstorff's Life During A Time Of Grief Essay

The overwhelming expedition to seeking closer from our losses are not mapped by the simple straight roads. At times they maybe windy, bumpy and blocked with construction, leaving us filling unconfident of reaching the destination of healing. The experience of my losses have been passages in light of this image, having had to face an abundance of losses over the years (some bigger than others)

He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still red, his eyes were not yet glazed. Behind me I heard the same man ask where is God now? And I heard a voice within me answer him: Where is He? Here He is-He is hanging here on this gallows? (Wiesel 62)

In this essay I will outline the main theoretical models relating to loss and grief.

Death is inevitable. Death is unforeseeable. Death is unknown. One of the most difficult aspects of life is the prospect of death. In Lament for A Son, Wolterstorff reflects on the agony and lamentation of losing his son in a tragic accident (Wolterstorff, 1987). He explains the grief and pain associated with the death of someone close (Wolterstorff, 1987). One of the main themes present is the premature death of the author’s son, which alludes to the five stages of grief (Wolterstorff, 1987) (Kübler-Ross, 1972). The last stage is the stage of acceptance (Kübler-Ross, 1972). Death is possibly one of the most difficult things to accept and understand. Through the analysis of Wolterstorff’s Lament for a Son, this paper will attempt to understand finding joy in loss, the meaning of death in the light of the Christian narrative, and the role of hope in the resurrection.

Explanation of how hope of the resurrection plays a role in comforting Wolterstorff is present, with detail and many examples, and shows a deep understanding.

Sacrificed the truth, beauty and the right to think, happiness and comfort is just indulgent, it is the discomfort brought by the misery, responsibility and the bonding give us the weight of life. The world is full of people who try hard to gain happiness, and we all have at least one time the idea of living in a perfect world, a world without pain, without misery, without getting old and without cancers. We always ignored the importance and the beauty of uncomfortableness, just as a quote in this book said, “Stability isn’t nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand”. After read this book, I started to be more objective at those bad things I used to hate, to understand the significance of art and to be grateful to this imperfect world we are

As demonstrated by the five stages of grief, Dr. Wolterstorff suffers greatly emotionally as he deals with his son’s death. In a bid to settle his depression, he reads the Bible on similar experiences that people had (Wolterstorff, 1987). He finds hope after reading and comprehending about Jesus Christ life, death, and resurrection. The story gives him hope that one day his son, Eric, will resurrect one day because God has the power to make such things possible. Dr. Wolterstorfffinally accepts the fact that Eric died, but he will see him in

According to Friedrich Nietzsche, a famous German scholar and philosopher, “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering,” After reading the memoir, Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, the message is evident that one of the main themes of the story is suffering. Immediately to begin the story, the narrator, Jon Krakauer, is standing upon the peak of Mt. Everest. Immediately this poses a lot of questions as to how he got there and the pain he must have went through because there is no easy journey to take to climb a mountain. Krakauer and his guides take a risk but suffer through the pain to come out on top. Even though he had to suffer at times, it was all worth it in the end when he accomplished what many people couldn’t do.

The grieving that individuals experience with death is unique, but the main stages are universal across cultures (Axelrod, 2017). There are five stages of grief. Nicolas Wolterstorff’s story, Lament for a Son, addresses these five stages as he tries to find joy after the loss of his son. The meaning and significance of death in light of the Christian narrative is also addressed in the story. Having a hope of the resurrection can help comfort individuals in situations similar to Wolterstorff (Wolterstorff, 1978).

As human beings, we are students of life, and death is one of the hard lessons that we will encounter. Our faith is not a fixed concept, it is affected by a convergence of factors and events in our life. Faith is complex and differs from one person to another, but one thing is for certain, it affects how we look at life and how we approach life. Rudolfo Anaya’s Bless Me Ultima divulges into the life of an inquisitive six year old Antonio as he transitions from a young boy to a man and becomes cognizant of life’s tragedies. His inquisitive nature that persists to understand himself and his world bears an internal struggle that leaves a rift of

Lament for a son is book written by Nicholas Wolterstorff, who is mourning the premature death of his son Eric who passed away in a mountain climbing accident in Austria. Nicholas Wolterstorff is an American philosopher and currently the Noah Porter Emeritus Professor of Philosophical Theology at Yale University. He is a writer with philosophical and theological interests. He has written books on aesthetics, epistemology, political philosophy, philosophy of religion, metaphysics, and philosophy of education. His book Lament for a son was written to honor his son. The book is full of anecdotes and stories about the death of his son to give voice to his grief. He writes the book with true emotions and stories to inspire

Starting with “The Wanderer,” the speaker begins his tale by reminiscing upon his trials and tribulations of which he has suffered a great deal and “longs for relief, the Almighty’s mercy” (118). He has lost his friends and no longer has anyone to confide in, forcing him to be alone with his thoughts: “So I must hold in the thoughts of my heart” (118). In the midst of his grieving, the Wanderer recalls a joyous occasions, such as when “his friend and lord helped him to the feast” (119), only to realize that what once was, is no longer. He finds comfort in his dreams, longing to be back with his “liege-lord again” only to awaken and have reality come shattering down upon him (119). However, he comes to the conclusion that through hardship and suffering, one matures, grows, learns his place in life and how “a good man holds his words back, tells his woes not too soon, baring his inner heart before knowing the best way” (120).

Upon everyone’s reunification in heaven they realize that the one thing that paradise is missing is life. They decide that they need to be reborn in order to experience the beauty that is living. Through all of their struggles, they have experienced a myriad of emotions. They have hated life, and yearned for death. Now they look forward towards life with a changed and renewed outlook.

(J.) William Worden’s Tasks of Grief model outline the major tasks or stages the KC described during her interview (Worden & Winokuer, 2011). KC discussed how she has to come to terms with the loss of the Chontay; her feelings of shock and disbelief; everything seemed surreal, as if in a dream. KC experienced intense pain, while her and her family worked through their feelings / thoughts of Chontay’s impending death (Worden & Winokuer, 2011). KC also experienced numerous emotions of intense sadness, emptiness, numbness, and anger (Worden & Winokuer, 2011).

His book details many examples of his theory and how it has helped many people improve their life, survive tragedies, as well as documents how it kept him alive throughout three years of physical and mental suffering while imprisoned. He also discusses how to find the meaning in one’s life as well as the tribulations that he and others went through once liberated.