Why: The Question That Never Goes Away by Philip Yancey is a follow-up to his classic bestseller “Where is God When It Hurts?” Why explores the question of “Where is God when we suffer?” At 166 pages, the book is relatively short, but perhaps it’s because the book lacks pages and pages and “fairy-tale endings” you often find in books that try to explain suffering. Yancey shares stories from war-torn Bosnia, the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami and Japan, and the Newton school shooting. These stories have no happy ending, yet Yancey finds ways to point us toward faith in the midst of disaster and mass suffering.
Reading this book while going through infertility was an interesting exercise. I am often tempted to compare my suffering to the large-scale suffering that occurs in natural disaster or major tragedies. “It’s only infertility. No one’s dead or dying. Those people are really suffering.” But I don’t think that’s what Yancey wants us to do after reading this book. There’s a difference between minimizing or trivializing our pain and putting our pain in perspective. This book will not make you feel bad for suffering during infertility, but it will help you put your individual suffering into perspective.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
“Virtually every passage on suffering in the New Testament deflects the emphasis from cause to response. Although we cannot grasp the master plan of the universe, which allows for so much evil and pain (the Why? question), we can nevertheless respond in two important ways. First, we can find meaning in the midst of suffering. Second, we can offer real and practical help to those in need.”
[Referring to the horrors of war in Bosnia & Serbia in the 1990s] “How does a person survive the constant tension of living under siege? Survivors told me you do so by getting up each morning, taking one step at a time, and relying on community for support.”
“From the Bible’s example I also learn that we are right to protest against violence and injustice, and right to call God to account for allowing such a world to exist. When I bear my own small portion of the world’s suffering, I can tell God with impunity exactly how I feel.”
“…one more fact about redemption: even in the new state, scars remain. A ransomed slave wears literal scars on his limbs and back from shackles and beatings. A redeemed alcoholic carries scars in his liver. Redeemed suffering includes scars too: the accident and its aftermath will never be erased from Jerry’s and his children’s memories. Tsunami survivors, the victims of war in Sarajevo, the community of Newtown- they may find ways to endure suffering, even redeem it, but the painful memories will never disappear, nor should they. Even Jesus’ resurrected body retained its scars.”
“Followers of Jesus get no exemption from the tragedies of evil and death, just as Jesus himself did not. Instead, trials can become occasions for the work of grace, by wakening dormant reserves of courage and love and compassion that we may not have been aware of.”
Because I found this book so insightful, I wanted to give away a copy of it to one lucky reader. I received a free review copy and I’m going to pass it along to the winner of the giveaway. It’s still in pristine condition, with no marks or highlights. You can enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter widget below. (You may have trouble seeing the widget if you’re viewing this post on a tablet or smart phone).
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The giveaway ends on April 28th at 12:00am PST. I’ll contact the winner by email within 48 hours. This giveaway is only open to people who reside in the United States. I will be unable to send the prize to people outside the U.S. Thanks for your understanding.
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