It is not at all unusual to question God when we are grieving. We wonder why God didn’t answer our prayers; why He took our loved one; why he didn’t intervene and stop something terrible from happening. We question whether God is truly good if He allowed something like this to happen. Some people will have a crisis of faith, and may walk away from God for a time. We may even be angry at God and hold him responsible for some tragic event.
There was a particularly tragic and violent death of a little girl. She was a pre-teen picture of innocence. She was popular in school, good at sports, and was the apple of her parent’s eye. We will call her Susie (not her real name). It was hot outside, and little Susie called her Mom at work. She let her Mom know she was home from school and wanted to get permission to walk down to the corner store a couple of blocks away for a soda pop. She never returned. She was kidnapped and brutally raped and murdered by a perverted evil predator of a man.
Susan’s parents were obviously devastated. How could something this horrible happen to their innocent little girl? Both of her parents were basically good people. They went to church occasionally, and tried to raise their children to be good people. Their whole world had been turned upside down, and now they were getting attention from the community and the media that they never wanted.
Susan’s parents struggled with what happened. They went from being in a state of despair, to reaching out for answers to the why questions. For over a year, they didn’t know who murdered their baby. At times they wondered if they would ever know exactly what happened. Susan’s Mom embraced her faith, and became a regular at the neighborhood church th...
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... him to make him become bitter. He kept a heart of compassion and respect for the king, because he was God’s anointed. In addition to that, his dearest friend in the world, Jonathan, was also dead.
Anytime David grieved, he would pick up his pen and write. Some of the most beautiful Psalms were written by David at the lowest times of his life.
When you are hurting – when you are grieving – when life seems to be more than you can bear, you can turn to the Psalms. The Psalms of David express the heart wrenching grief experiences of one man. An interesting point of the Psalms is how many of them start out talking about pain and heartache so bad, he doesn’t know if he can survive it. At times he even asks, “Where is God?” Yet each of these Psalms ends with praise and thanksgiving to God for His faithfulness. These Psalms teach us how we can survive our grief.
Susie’s mother opened the door to let Molly, Susie’s babysitter, inside. Ten-month old Susie seemed happy to see Molly. Susie then observed her mother put her jacket on and Susie’s face turned from smiling to sad as she realized that her mother was going out. Molly had sat for Susie many times in the past month, and Susie had never reacted like this before. When Susie’s mother returned home, the sitter told her that Susie had cried until she knew that her mother had left and then they had a nice time playing with toys until she heard her mother’s key in the door. Then Susie began crying once again.
St. Albans Psalter Psalm 68 is not long, but it does have lots of detailed material to study the author’s choice of language, and the power of the images that are being conveyed to the readers through an emotional and sentimental way. The simplicity of this psalm’s gives it power, since it expresses an emotional despair in a careful shaped prayer, which comes from a human being in what seems to be a life-threatening situation. In the image and the content, the psalmist’s travels an arc of desperation to salvation, in a vivid personal plea to Christ to save him from what seems to be a swirling vortex of hopelessness that threatens to pull him under forever.
Jack Salmon, Susie’s father, is most vocal about his sorrow for losing his daughter. However, his initial reaction was much different. Upon hearing that Susie’s ski hat had been found, he immediately retreats upstairs because “he [is] too devastated to reach out to [Abigail] sitting on the carpet…he could not let [her] see him” (Sebold 32). Jack retreats initially because he did not know what to do or say to console his family and he did not want them to see him upset. This first reaction, although it is small, is the first indicator of the marital problems to come. After recovering from the initial shock, Jack decides that he must bring justice for his daughter’s sake and allows this goal to completely engulf his life. He is both an intuitive and instrumental griever, experiencing outbursts of uncontrolled emotions then channeling that emotion into capturing the killer. He focuses his efforts in such an e...
The death of her child occurred while she and Leroy were watching a movie at a drive in theater. Her child then four months old was in the back seat. Studies have shown the amount of guilt a parent places upon themselves leads to emotional, psychological, and social consequences (Boyle 933 par 5). The relationship between the two parents becomes difficult to manage and needs tremendous care and guidance to maintain (Boyle 933 par 10). Of all the deaths a person might encounter, the death of a child is very traumatic and likely to lead to most severe consequences. It is reasonable to anticipate that families who lose children from SI...
... a confession was made, the mother expressed feelings of hatred, violence, and a wish to kill.
Breavement is handeled differently in different generations. Weather it is a kid that has a terminal illness or an elderly person who is diagnosed with a terminal illness, each breave differently. Breavement deals with not just someone clsoe dying but, someone themselvs who is diagnosed with a life threatening illness.
Furthermore, this tragic event led to the search for closure by Susie Salmon, her family and her friends. The path to closure is filled with many obstacles, and each person reacts differently when facing these obstacles. The death of Susie Salmon leaves a huge impact on Lindsey Salmon, Jack Salmon, Abigail Salmon, Ruth Connors and Ray Singh, not only because of the sorrow that is caused but because it reveals many concealed/unspoken problems which will test the strength of her family and friends. To begin with, Lindsey Salmon struggles abundantly to accept the fact that her older sister is dead. She tries extremely hard to avoid sharing her emotions with others.
In my case study, I will be talking about a personal experience with a family I know very well. I will not be using their actual names; I’ll be using these names instead: the daughter, Cheyenne, the father, Jim, and the mother Lucy.
David said his soul will “make a boast in the Lord” (v:2). David does not dwell on his experience, nor even on his deliverance, but on his Deliverer. The Lord is both the subject and the object of David's praise. Psalm reminds me of the fellowship of praise, for the most part praise can be private, However, that is not the kind of praise which psalms practice and promote. When David publicly praise God at worship, he did so purposing to promote worship on the part of the entire congregation., for the most part, those who loved God, as David did, have the right to rejoice and praise God with him. In Romans 12:15, Paul's teaching indicates that the new testament worship should be a sharing in the joys of the fellow- Christians: “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. David therefore urges his fellow-worshipers to join with him in magnifying the Lord so that His name will be corporately exalted (v:3). In Psalm 34 speak of David's deliverance, this poor man cried and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles, and the angels encamped around those who feared Him, and rescues
Psalm 89 of the Book of Psalms, advocates the message of consequentialism, foreground by man’s relationship with God, with direct lin...
America struggles to find equality, and by bystanding the stripping of its youth, continual prolonging is inevitable. Raising this nation’s children through nurturing and care is the first step to uplifting America as a whole. In 2012 alone, 1593 of America’s children died at the hands of child abuse, 70.3% of whom were younger than the age of three (Safe Horizon). In order to prevent further child abuse, the American government should address stricter child protection laws, psychological stability, and increase the recognition of those that have released their stories. Stories by Mary Ellen Wilson.
as Jennifer, a victim states, “I feel our childhood has been taken away from us and it has left a big hole in our lives.”
“Come on, Nancy. Tell us the truth. Where are the children?” wrote author Mary Higgins Clark in her chilling novel, Where are the Children. Clark’s thrilling murder mystery describes a toxic relationship between a professor, Carl Harmon, the mentally insane and abusive husband of Nancy Eldridge, a beautiful young mother who is being accused of the murder of her children. Manipulative tactics and gender play key roles in creating discussion and open ended ideas toward the theme of this novel. The reader can see how Nancy has been unfairly accused for the murder of her first set of children. Although in the end Carl is finally identified as the murderer, the entire novel is set to make it seem as if Nancy was capable of harming her own flesh and blood. Mary Higgins Clark writes a happy ending novel to give
She admitted to the authorities of being sexually assaulted by Beverly Russell around the age of 16. After being reported, Beverly Russell was temporarily removed from their home but returned only after a few family counseling sessions. Susan was reprimanded for revealing the sexual abuse to the public. Her mother seemed to be more concerned with the public image, rather than the safety of her own daughter. With her stepfather back in the house, the abuse continued.
... to pass on, singing “We’ll meet beyond the shore, we’ll kiss just as before.” This showed an acceptance of what was inevitable. After David was discharged from music therapy, he had passed on a week later. This study demonstrates the power of music therapy with association to grief and mourning. The song choices helped to promote a communication between the husband and wife, and the neurologically impaired David was able to sing words that he was unable to express on his own. (Bailey, 1984). The power of music is incredible, and has the ability to say what we are unable to.