A useful Christian work for readers seeking spiritual growth and self-help.
Pastor and teacher Gasiorowski ponders the path to spiritual forgiveness after a tragedy in this short, debut religious tract.
The author had been married to his wife, Anna, for 16 years when she died in an automobile accident in Poland in 2003. Afterward, he couldn’t remember the events of that day, due to his own injuries, which only added to his emotional pain and spiritual confusion. He had to raise their two children, Joanne and Lucas, by himself while also crippled by grief. Even before the accident, the family had already struggled through the loss of twin babies, and the author dealt with a severe hepatitis-C infection, thyroid cancer, and surgery. His religious belief was severely tested, and he railed against God: “please leave me and my family alone!...No, I shall never forgive You this.” This crisis of faith led him to author this short tract, which charts his personal struggle to forgive God through his own version of the classic Kübler-Ross model of the seven stages of grief. For the author, the crisis largely manifested as a phase of running away from God, during which he also confronted the psychological sources of his pain. The process took years, and although his pain was not obviated, he reconciled with his faith to a point of spiritual peace. Throughout the text, Gasiorowski supplements his own observations with biblical homilies and examples. Along the way, the author offers some insight into the grieving process and, specifically, the Bible’s exhortations relating to it. Although the narrative gets off to a rocky start by confusingly switching perspectives between the author and his children, it eventually falls into a more predictable pattern. It’s not as polished in style and scholarship as similar writings by C.S. Lewis, for example, but there will surely be value in the work to readers who have a deeply spiritual or Christian viewpoint. The shorter length definitely lends itself to book- or study-group use, and it may spark lively discussion. An introduction by the Rev. Dr. Carson Pue, who also lost his wife, begins the book.
A useful Christian work for readers seeking spiritual growth and self-help.Pub Date: May 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5127-4059-2
Page Count: 74
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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