A Severe Mercy

What a beautiful book…

"Death... a severe mercy... an experience that consummates life... not merely stops it." - Sheldon Vanauken

Another book down this year anddd I'm beginning to notice a common theme in true faith, the faith that God is trying desperately to build within us (especially American culture) that many of us will run from or are terrified of... the common theme is suffering. My thoughts are too "everywhere" to zero in on all the specifics running through my mind but... we worship safety. We trust God to keep us from suffering rather than deliver us from evil. Often, suffering (meant to push us closer to dependency on God) pushes us to complete and absolute deconstruction. This is not a condemnation to the sufferer. Jesus wept because He aligned with the sufferer. He felt the emotions. The Christian solution to suffering isn't to become calloused, merciless, bitter and paranoid. It's to dive deep into the furnace with God, seeking refinement and alignment with Him. Jesus provides this example over and over again... and this book echoes these same sentiments.

After hearing KB "namedrop" this book on his podcast, Southside Rabbi (go peep it... it's fire) I HAD to read this book. It's an autobiography written by Sheldon Vanauken, a friend of C.S. Lewis and a sufferer. The concept that most rocked me in this book was his "jealousy" of God. He communicated a jealousy he had harbored because the love of his life was sold out for Christ and he was lost in the old days of their "pagan love". The book details his relationships, his conversion and transformation and the WILD turn his life takes as he watches the love of his life die slowly but so so humbly. He tackles his grief head-on and wrestles with his faith in a way that would prove daunting for ANYONE. This book honestly brought me to tears many times because of how poetic Sheldon's writing is. I encourage any Christian, familiar with suffering or an alien to it, to get this book and read it. It will change your walk for sure...