Lament for a Son
by Nicholas Wolterstorff, Wolterstorff
List Price:
Our Price: $6.69
You Save: $5.31 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.92 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Nicholas Wolterstorff, WolterstorffEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1987-01
ISBN: 080280294X
Number of pages: 111
Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
Accessories:
Book Reviews of Lament for a Son
Book Review: The Closeness of the Far Away
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading Nicholas Wolterstorff's 'Lament For A Son', I realize just how little I really know and can feel about the experience of death of a close relative. Even though I spent a good part of my last year at college hearing the cries of my land lady following her son's suicide, the words of Wolterstoff tell of an experience that is well beyond my capacity to truly understand. Now I know that phrases like 'he is in a better place' or 'I know how you are feeling' are best left unspoken.
Wolterstorff's son Eric was a venturesome young man who excelled at college and had a bright future ahead of him. Entering college as a National Merit Scholar- a stellar student in science and mathematics- but eventually turning to art history, it was his love for mountain climbing that lead to his sudden and tragic death- a fall from which he could not save himself. So violent was his death that the pain his father feels today far exceeds any comfort he can glean from the memories of his childhood. For Wolterstorff, "the pain of the no-more outweighs that gratitude of the once was"(p.13). He writes of the 'silence' that now fills him with grief; he reflects on how his son has departed forever- departed in the briefest of moments. He thinks of how only his own death as a father will ever take the pain away. There lies a deep irony in this tragedy- that it was the majestic mountains, "beauty pure from the hand of God" that took his son's life (p.19). As a consequence, Eric's words may be forgotten and his contributions to society lost, "cut down at the peak of vitality" (p.24).
Today Wolterstorff grieves through tears choosing to remember his son through constant daily reminders. He does not hide the memories- the clothes, the objects, the photos. Indeed the words of Jesus in his last moments, "do this in remembrance of me" ring true for his own emotional healing. He must keep remembering. Death is awful- demonic even. After such a tragedy death still stalks. He feels overwhelmed sometimes by the sense that he has to live the rest of his life without Eric. Yet as a grieving father, Wolterstorff's liturgy at his son's funeral tells of a hope beyond the grave- "Those who believe in [Christ], though they die, yet shall they live" [p.38]. Quoting from John Donne, he also writes of his belief in a purpose for our lives- 'translators' that reveal God's glory during our time here on earth.
Still, having touched his dead son's body in all its coldness and lifelessness, Wolterstorff lives today with the wounds of unanswered questions. Why did God let his son die in such a horrific accident? Why, after twenty five years was his life smashed in an instant? How can God, the maker of heaven and earth, have allowed this to happen? Such questions inevitably haunt Wolterstorff as he lives on with the ongoing alternation between lament and faith in God. He often sees life as darkness and does not know if in such darkness he will ever find the light of God. He is deeply afflicted by the seemingly trivial- by the innocent questions of those who do not know what has happened, "How many children do you have?" or, "What are your children doing now?". He lives with the regrets of the things he did not do with his son- the times that he did not play with him. But in all of this, he lives in hope of the 'Great Day' when he and his son will be able to embrace. That desire surely a loving God must grant.
Wolterstorff's suffering bears witness to the love that he had for his son. He suffers because he loved. Jesus' second most important commandment to us was to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mathew 33 vs 39). In loving others, we show our love for God. In commanding us to love, Jesus was also commanding us to suffer. In the face of this suffering over death, Wolterstorff has risen up, albeit wounded, in victory through faith in a living God. Yes, Wolterstorff holds intensely to the hope of a reunion with his son in the city of heaven, however that may be. But until then, goodbye is all he can say. He mourns deeply, very deeply. With all its advancement, technology has not been able to overcome death. But Wolterstorff indicates his hope in an eternal perspective.
I close here with the words Wolterstorff chose from the biblical book of Revelation as part of the requiem that he commissioned for Eric- words through which to live in hope:
"We have seen a great mystery: We shall all be changed. We shall be raised in Christ as we were buried in Christ. Death is swallowed up in victory. The dwelling of God will be with his people. God will wipe every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more. There shall be no mourning, no crying no pain; sorrow and sighing shall flee away. For the old things are disappearing"
(Revelation 21)
Summary of Lament for a Son
This book was written more than twelve years ago to honor the authors son Eric, who died in a mountain-climbing accident in Austria in his twenty-fifth year, and to voice Wolterstorffs grief. Though it is intensely personal, he decided to publish it in the hope that some of those who sit on the mourning bench for children would find his words giving voice to their own honoring and grieving. What he learned, to his surprise, is that in its particularity there is universality. Many who have lost children have written him. But many who have lost other relatives have done so as well, along with many who have experienced loss in forms other than the death of relatives or friends. The sharply particular words of Lament, so he has learned, give voice to the pain of many forms of loss. This book, Lament For A Son, has become a love-song. Every lament, after all, is a love-song. Will love-songs one day no longer be laments?Christian Living Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Christian Living Books
A Survey of the Old Testamentby Andrew E. Hill, John H. Walton
Zondervan; Published: 2009-02-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.00
Price in other shops:
Steps to Christby Ellen Gould Harmon White
General Books LLC; Published: 2012-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.14
The 1928 Book of Common PrayerOxford University Press, USA; Published: 1993-11-18; Leather Bound; Book
Price in other shops:
A People's History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Storyby Diana Butler Bass
HarperOne; Published: 2010-03-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops:
Works of Loveby Soren Kierkegaard
Harper Perennial; Published: 1964-10-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
America by Heart : Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flagby Sarah Palin
Harper Collins Publishers; Harper; Published: 2010-11-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life In Godby Dallas Willard
HarperOne; Published: 1998-03-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.30
Price in other shops:
God for Us: The Trinity and Christian Lifeby Catherine Mowry Lacugna
Harpercollins College Div; Published: 1992-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $78.36
Ruthless Trustby Brennan Manning
HarperAudio; Published: 2004-01-06; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $3.07
Price in other shops:
The Screwtape Lettersby C. S. Lewis
Macmillan; Published: 1982; Paperback; Book
Similar Books and other products
The Blood of the Lamb: A Novelby Peter De Vries
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 2005-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.19
Price in other shops:
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madnessby William Styron
Modern Library; Published: 2007-01-23; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $7.47
Price in other shops:
Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faith & Missionby Harold Netland
IVP Academic; Published: 2001-08-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $21.60
Price in other shops:
Intervention: How to Help Someone Who Doesn't Want Helpby Vernon E Johnson
Hazelden; Published: 1986-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Grief: Contemporary Theory and the Practice of Ministryby Melissa M. Kelley
Fortress Press; Published: 2010-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.31
Price in other shops:
Science and Religion: Are They Compatible? (Point/ Counterpoint)by Daniel C. Dennett, Alvin Plantinga
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2010-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.61
Price in other shops:
God, Freedom, and Evilby Alvin Plantinga
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Published: 1978-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
A Grief Observedby C. S. Lewis
Harper Collins Publishers; HarperOne; Published: 2001-02-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.74
Price in other shops:
Life After the Death of My Son: What I'm Learningby Dennis L. Apple
Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City; Published: 2008-03-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.96
Price in other shops:
A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Lossby Jerry Sittser
Zondervan; Published: 2004-12-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.65
Price in other shops: