| Self-help |
| Christian Living |
| Religion |
| Depression |
| Mood Disorders |
Summary
Summary
Jesus Wept, Barbara C. Crafton's best-selling and brilliant reflection on faith and depression, is now released in its tenth-anniversary edition, complete with a new foreword by the author, who reflects on the choice she made ten years ago to break the silence and speak openly about her own experience with depression. "I was determined to speak freely about it" she writes. "Many, probably most, of my clergy confreres were - and remain - unwilling to invite such a stigma to take up permanent residence in their resumes. But there are some who know the isolation and despair into which depression can drag a person, and they might benefit from knowing that someone whose whole life has been given to God also knows these things. If that is the case, it's well worth the stigma."
Like all human experience, no two courses of depression and healing are the same. Religious belief can make depression easier, but it can also make it harder. It calls our beliefs about ourselves and about God's presence in our lives into painful question. Barbara Crafton's beautiful and candid book addresses these questions head on, reminding her readers that God does not ordain our suffering but instead meets us in our darkest days to compassionately call us toward the light.
Author Notes
Barbara C. Crafton is an Episcopal priest, spiritual director, and author. She is the founder and head of the Geranium Farm, an online institute for the promotion of spiritual growth. She teaches in New York City at Marble Collegiate Church, where her classes are livestreamed.
Reviews (1)
Library Journal Review
Beyond all the vision quests, Scripture explanations, and spiritual exhortations, there are certain regions of human experience that are so painful, so difficult, that even religious writers touch on them rarely and with reluctance. This season, two brave books take a frank look at depression and forgiveness. Crafton, an Episcopal priest and founder of The Geranium Farm (www.geraniumfarm.org), approaches the subject of depression with astonishing candor and courage. Coming to terms with her own experience of this illness, she acknowledges depression's fundamental intractability-its meaninglessness and dullness. While she wisely dispels the Christian fear of suicide ("There's more than enough hell to go around, right here on earth"), she also rejects easy solutions. Love may not be the answer, but it minimizes the worst of the illness. Huston (The Holy Way), a former literature teacher, tackles forgiveness, which while one of the keystones of Christian faith is remarkably hard to offer or receive. She thoughtfully helps the reader to think about preparing both to forgive and to be forgiven, for example, by eschewing "false forgiveness"; forgiving parents, spouses, and community; and being creatures of forgiveness in an unforgiving world. Both of these books are highly recommended. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
