Books That Help You Get Through Sadness and Grief

I know that all human beings at one time or another will go through the grieving process, have to deal with the illness of a loved one or may be just down in the dumps and needs something to help pick them back up again. There are also many times when we as human beings either turn away from God, or have questions in regards to God that they need answers to.

I have compiled a list of my favorite religious and inspirational books, as well as books that have helped me get through the worst of times in my life. None of these books are new, they have all been around for years, and can be easily obtained at very low prices on some of the used internet book sites, and used book stores. I am hoping that you will find these books as helpful as I did.

How to Survive the Loss of a Love
By: Melba Colgrove, Peter McWilliams, Harold H. Bloomfield

This book is about loss. The most difficult loss of course is the loss of a loved one, and this book covers that topic, but it also goes on to touch on several different kinds of losses that one may experience in a life time. The book is set up into 58 different things to do when there is nothing you can do, when you are stuck in a situation and everything is completely out of your hands. Of course you can not change the situation, but you can get through it. This book is here to help you recognize the stages of loss, and the stages of healing.

Although the book mainly provides emotional support it also provides practical advice on how to handle things and how to make decisions or not make decisions while in the very early stages of grief. Regretful errors can be made on an emotional level rather than on a intellectual level when you are grieving, and these decisions may not be the best ones for you later on.

This is an excellent reference for anyone who is experiencing any type of loss.

Lord, I Need Grace to Make It!
by Kay Arthur

You will come face to face with the living Word of God. You will learn will learn about law, sin, and grace by using God's words. You will become more enlightened and more knowledgeable about the path your life is taking, and what path you should follow so you can know with absolute confidence not only where you are headed, but the true gift of his grace to sustain you on your way.

This book is an excellent one for use in a bible study group.

When All You've Ever Wanted Isn't Enough
By Harold Kushner

This book is about the wish for a meaningful life. The author Rabbi Kushner shows us how to live as human beings are meant to live. The author through this book guides the reader to a heightened sense of joy, purpose and meaning, and helps us to redirect our energies toward goals that will bring lasting happiness and true fulfillment. This book is meant for all people and is not intended for any one certain faith.

It Was On Fire When I Lay Down On It
By Rober Fulghum

More inspirational than religious, this book is written by the author of the popular book entitled: All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. The book is similar to the first, but gets perhaps a bit deeper and more serious. This is a collection of essays that provide the reader with his heart-warming observations of life and collection of ponderings if you will.

This book will help you, motivate you, and inspire you.

Light for My Path - Illuminating Selections from the Bible
By Barbour

This book contains hundreds of Bible verses (organized into dozens of topics). The organization is helpful and the topics and verses relate nicely giving the reader food for thought. This book will help define your purpose in life, clarify and strengthen your relationship with others and with God. Unlike many religion books where the promise of your future may be bleak, this book provides encouragement and hope for your future and the future of all of God's people.

This book would also be a good choice for a bible study group.

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten: Uncommon Thoughts on Common Things
by Robert Fulghum

This book was on the best seller list. This book is a simple collection of thoughts and opinions. This book is a collection of observations on the author Robert Fulgrhum's life. The experiences of which he observes are experiences that many of us share as human beings, he writes about such experiences while offering his observations about the experiences. By reading about certain things that we all share we can learn some things about ourselves. Hopefully the book will inspire the reader to be the best that they are capable of being. He reminds us to: "Share, clean up our own mess, take a nap every afternoon, and be aware of wonder."

"Within simplicity lies the sublime."

Living, Loving & Learning
By Leo Buscaglia, Ph.D.

LIVING, LOVING AND LEARNING is a collection of Dr. Buscaglia's lectures about love. Dr. Busgalia lectured worldwide between 1970 and 1981. Dr. Buscaglia was all about love, and his life's work was all about love, being loved, and giving love. This book through this book Dr. Buscaglia offers up a challenge to accept love in life and to profit from the in life from love itself.
This book makes you wish that there were more people who were full of this kind of love in this world, what a wonderful place it would be. This book is touching, it made me laugh, and it made me cry, and I smiled a whole lot.

When Bad Things Happen to Good People
By Herald S. Kushner

One my favorite book. I have actually read this book a couple of times, and I have thought back on it several times in my life when someone I loved or cared about has died or has become very ill. Herald Kushner wrote this book to help him deal with the fatal illness of his son. The book sets out to answer many questions, and the one that comes to mind is the question that we all ask when terrible things happen is "Why did this have to happen to her/him/me?" or "How could God let this happen?" Through this book you will come to realize that it is not God who causes bad things to happen. This book is not about asking God for anything but rather to work with God to help you get through the terrible things that we must go through in life.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is going through the grieving process or who is dealing with the serious illness of a loved one. This book can provide some much needed comfort.

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