"Dad. I've got very, very, very bad news. Peter was killed tonight . . ." With that middle-of-the-night phone call, life for the Mayer family plunged from "best-ever year" to months and years of dealing with the oppressive presence of Peter's unending absence. A letter from his father to the freshly deceased Peter, intended for the memorial service, became the first in a torrent of letters from his dad to Peter, though which his dad poured out agonized and angry grief. In the letters, Pete...

The Divine Art of Dying explores the time when individuals facing a life-limiting illness make critical decisions about how they will live until they die. Authors Karen Speerstra and Herbert Anderson teamed up to write this book shortly before Speerstra's death. Their hope was that this book would be a gift to help people who are irreversibly ill (and their friends and family) navigate the perilous journey to the point at which one decides to discontinue curative treatment and tur...

Shaping our journey into the DivineThis moving and enlightening book presents us with a compelling vision of what can happen when we take the opportunity to connect stories and rituals--a vision of individuals and communities transformed through a deeper sense of connection to our loved ones, our communities, and God. Herbert Anderson and Edward Foley reveal how when stories and rituals work together, they have the potential to be both mighty and dangerous--mighty in their ability ...

Grief as a lifelong human experience is the scope of this absorbing book. Kenneth Mitchell and Herbert Anderson explore the multiple dimensions of the problem, including the origins and dynamics of grief, loss throughout life, caring for those who grieve, and the theology of grieving. This examination is enriched by vivid illustrations and case histories of individuals whose experiences the authors have shared.