A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing

Name: A Hole in the World: Finding Hope in Rituals of Grief and Healing
Price: 14.38 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Amanda Held Opelt
ISBN: 9781546001898

When Amanda Held Opelt suffered a season of loss — including three miscarriages and the unexpected death of her sister, New York Times bestselling writer Rachel Held Evans — she was confronted with sorrow she didn't know to how face. Opelt struggled to process her grief and accept the reality of the pain in the world. She also wrestled with some unexpectedly difficult questions: What does it mean to truly grieve and to grieve well? Why is it so hard to move on? Why didn’t my faith prepare me for this kind of pain? And what am I supposed to do now?

Her search for answers led her to discover that generations past embraced rituals that served as vessels for pain and aided in the process of grieving and healing — traditions that have been lost as religious practice declines, cultures amalgamate, death is sanitized, and pain is averted. In this raw and authentic memoir of bereavement, Opelt explores grief rituals and customs from various cultures, including the Irish tradition of keening, or wailing in grief; the Victorian tradition of post-mortem photographs; the Jewish tradition of sitting shiva; and the tradition of mourning clothing.

As Opelt explores each bereavement practice, it gives her a framework for processing her own pain. She shares how, in spite of her doubt and anger, God met her in the midst of sorrow and grieved along with her, and shows that when we carefully and honestly attend to our losses, we are able to expand our capacity for love, faith, and healing.