Bringing Grief Home

Most people are ill-equipped to navigate the bewildering experience of grief. It may seem that people's inability to grieve is a personal failure to exert enough willpower over their emotions. The truth is even more unsettling: when it comes to grief and expressing lament and mourning, many people are in a battle for their spiritual survival. Travis Fletcher found himself facing a major loss in his life: the death of his father from cancer in 2019. Consulting the wisdom of grief researchers, theologians, psychologists, and poets, he discovered that the journey of grief is a survival story that nearly every modern person will one day face. Fletcher found that the experience of grief mirrors the historical events of Apollo 13, the 1970 mission to the moon which nearly ended in catastrophe. In the story of Apollo 13, a parabolic relationship with grief unfolded, which is the story Fletcher presents in this book. Crucially, Fletcher outlines how people can reclaim their sense of wholeness by looking at grief not as an enemy but a teacher and friend. Bringing Grief Home will transform the conversation about grief and show readers how to grow into the people they were made to be.