Those who are worth loving are worth grieving over.
Nicholas Wolterstorff has written dozens of landmark books in philosophy, theology, education, and the arts. Lament for a Son is different. Here he writes not as a scholar but as a father grieving the loss of his son.
On one level, Lament for a Son is a spare narrative of a heartbreaking year. It starts with the numbing telephone call that no parent ever wants to receive, moves through the funeral and its aftermath, and ends with a graveside visit one year later. But the book is more than a narrative. With utter candor, Wolterstorff explores the intersection of grief and faith. Refusing the comfort of easy answers, he acknowledges, "I have no explanation. . . . I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth and resurrecter of Jesus Christ. I also believe that my son's life was cut off in its prime. I cannot fit these pieces together."
Throughout the book, Wolterstorff affirms the need to mourn, asserting that we have an obligation to the deceased--and also to God--to acknowledge death's awfulness. Both emotionally honest and theologically grounded, Lament for a Son illuminates a profound truth: those who are worth loving are worth grieving over.
In this fortieth-anniversary edition of the book, Wolterstorff provides a new afterword in which he reflects on the book's unexpectedly wide reach. Lament for a Son continues to speak to readers today because it never pretends grief can be solved--only carried, and somehow, redeemed.
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