Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Over the years, Peter Roebbelen has had the painful privilege of walking with too many friends as they prepared to die. His journey with them has been intensely personal and altogether unsafe. As he grieved and reflected on their deaths, what began to take shape were insights into life and living. He began to understand the many ways in which God was bestowing gifts of life upon his friends in their seasons of dying, and that on many occasions, the dying were living better than he was - they were more fully alive, more fully present, more keenly aware of what was important and what was needed. This book is filled with their stories, their wisdom and their tears.
There are many helpful books about the dying process and about coping with loss and what to expect as one journeys through grief. This is not one of those books. This book looks at the possibility of life in the face of death's certainty. With the dying and their caregivers showing the way, this is a book of thoughts, stories and reflections, about finding life in the season of dying.
Synopsis
In this Tuesdays with Morrie-type book, a pastor reveals lessons for living he's learned from the dying.
What would you do with your life, if you knew it was going to end soon? Mercy is a pastor's recording of the life lessons he's discovered as a result of sitting at the bedsides of courageous people facing death's certainty. Peter Roebbelen explores the gifts that people have given him, the wisdom that he's gleaned from them, almost as if he's been the one being counseled, rather than the other way around.
This joyful and instructive book will encourage anyone who reads it to live to the fullest in the present, and to love the people around them as never before.
Synopsis
In this wise and hopeful book, reminiscent of Tuesdays with Morrie, a pastor reveals lessons for living he's learned from the dying.
What would you do with your life, if you knew it was going to end soon? Peter Roebbelen Mercy distills the life lessons he's discovered from sitting at the bedsides of courageous people facing death's certainty. He explores the gifts that people have given him and this wisdom he has gleaned, almost as if he's been the one being counseled, rather than the other way around.
This joyful and instructive book encourages us to live to the fullest in the present, and to love the people around us as never before.
"In this sacred journal, Peter vulnerably shares 'riches stored in secret places'--intimate and holy moments with the dying, illuminating the promise of Psalm 116:15: 'His loved ones are very precious to him, and he does not lightly let them die.'"
--Moira Brown, author and former host of 100 Huntley Street
"To pull life from death is a great calling upon the Christian community. Roebbelen's book does this honestly, beautifully, and with a compelling awareness that can only come from a hand that has held many in the journey towards death. I first read this while holding the hand of my sleeping mother, who is in her own season of dying. Having been absent, in a variety of ways, in the death of my father, I am now deeply grateful for a book that calls us (and shows us the way) to presence and life in the season of dying."
--Greg Pennoyer, Editor of God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas
"An open, thoughtful discussion, not just about death, but the journey of life as we face the inevitability of death. This book calls us to live well so that dying well is possible. Most of all, it is an intimate insight to a pastor's heart--one who has walked openly with people he loved and cared about as they entered the mystery of dying. This is essential reading for anyone entering into the debates of a society fearful of death."
--Dr. Gary V. Nelson, President, Tyndale University College and Seminary
"Accompanying dying people is the most privileged part of pastoral ministry and also the toughest. This book's heartening testimonies demonstrate paradoxical gifts and blessings from the end of life. Discover how a dedicated pastor overcame fear of working with the dying and became an agent of God's healing and hope in the direst of circumstances."
--Rev. Arthur Paul Boers, author of Living into Focus: Choosing What Matters in an Age of Distractions
"How do you help someone to die? Or those left behind? Realizing he had come up against his own limits as a pastor, Peter Roebbelen turns to the experience of those he has seen over the threshold. In their responses, he discovers what he calls the gifts of dying--which, when attended to, can transform the very way we live. Here is an honest account of a believer living at the edge of what we can understand in facing our own shared mortality." --Jerusha McCormack, author of Grieving, A Beginner's Guide
"So often in the presence of death the Christian response is to pray for healing so life will continue. Turning that notion on its head, this book demonstrates that life and healing can actually be part of death both for those who are approaching the end of life on the earth as well as for those who are walking with them. But what is both disarming and helpful is that the author gives us a vulnerable glimpse into his own inner discovery around this complex subject, and in the process, invites readers to confront our own journey as we move toward death."
--Dr. Rod Wilson, former President, Regent College, Vancouver, and co-author of Keeping Faith in Fundraising