Sorrow's Profiles: Death, Grief and Crisis in the Family

Death, grief and sorrow are inevitible in human existance. These basic life imperatives concern us all. How to best understand them in an integrated and comprehensive way? How to negotiate the complexity of the emotion they evoke and the thinking they require? How to come to terms with them while navigating our unique grief-journey? Most importantly, how do we grow as individuals and season as persons as a result of the painful voyage?

The cargo that this book carries differs significantly from the common fare about mourning and grieving. We die alone, but grief is also always a family affair and a happening that affects an entire community. Western thought, far too exclusively individualistic, focuses on the Spartan griever as if performing a heroic act. Our western approach to grief is also quick-fix and fosters a swift ending to it.

This book, on the other hand, showcases the value of grieving as a protracted moment and as interpersonally modulated. As the mainstream documents, the process passes through multiple stages and phases. Beyond expanding the time-frame, this book presents grief as a journey, the abiding meaning of which is that we grow through it, becoming fuller and stronger people.