TRACING THE RAINBOW
Walking through loss & bereavement
By Pablo Martinez and Ali Hull . Authentic. 71 pages
ISBN 1 85078 487 6
Having much appreciated Martinez's recent book on prayer and personality, I was excited to receive a review copy of his latest book on loss.
I was not disappointed. From the very first line, 'Grief is the other side of love', this compassionate, wise and practical book grips you with its pithy thought-provoking one-liners. The book is full of them: 'The human being is the only animal able to listen. The other animals are only able to hear'; 'Divorce is the end of a relationship and the beginning of a war'; 'One of the favourite strategies of the devil is to make church members become amateur judges'.
These nuggets are buried within three main rich seams:
1. Masterly discussion of the psychology of bereavement, especially in relation to death and divorce.
2. Extended treatments of related biblical themes such as forgiveness, death and heaven.
3. Personal testimony from interviews the authors have carried out with those who have suffered loss.
It is these latter that give special emotional power to the book and make it so useful for clients and counsellors alike. The interviewees include: a couple who lost their 21-year-old son and a couple who lost two babies; a well-known Christian whose husband left her and an unknown Christian whose wife walked out on him. Their honest sharing of their stories with us does not hide their pain, but nonetheless offers realistic hope to others facing such devastation.
My free review copy will cost me now as there are at least three friends I can think of who this book would really help and I shall get one for each of them.
Be warned - buy at least two copies to start with; it will save you going back to the shop!
