Jesus Wept

by Joyce Ashton, Dennis Ashton

Jesus Wept is carefully designed from an LDS perspective to help people through not only the loss of a loved one, but through the many trials we all face throughout our lives. The authors tenderly share insights and techniques of how to cope with such difficulties * Death of a loved one
* Infertility and miscarriage
* The loss of a child
* Murder or suicide within the family
* Illness and disability
* Loss of employment
* Financial difficulties
* Marital discord and divorce
* Same gender attraction
* Raising rebellious children
* Abuse
* Empty Nest Syndrome
* Unable to find a mate

Genres: Grief

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent resource on grief and loss. They have endured many trials and have help others through trials as well. They have e a unique perspective on life and how to respond when something difficult is thrown our way.

[Geoeng51 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential reading if someone you know is grieving. What might they be experiencing? What can you do to help? What stupid things can you avoid saying or doing? How can you be more empathetic?

[Michele Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I had a friend loan it to me who has also lost a child. It has a lot of great advice- a lot of it I already knew but it was therapeutic for me to read and very helpful.

[liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected more from this book. Here I was seeking some comfort and guidance after my younger sister died and I was giving this book with heartfelt concern and love from a dear friend whom had received her own comfort from it’s pages and wished nothing more than for me to also have comfort… Bit this really leaves me wanting something more.

The book is pretty much split into 3 sections. The first 3rd of the book covers types of feelings. The second 3rd talks about the reasons for the feelings. And the last 3rd of the book deals with how we should deal with these feelings.
There are several reasons why this book really didn’t resonate with me:

1) This book is based mostly on the personal trials of one family/person. And though their life has been full of trauma I don’t know that it was really portrayed to me in a way that made me care. There are small tidbits throughout the book from others experiences, but most of it was “when this happened to ME.” Or “when MY so-and-so died.” Or “when the house fell on MY wicked witch” blah blah blah. I don’t really want to hear the personal experiences of the author. I wanted counseling and guidance and not a 247 page testimony meeting.

Tell me these things in Thrid Person POV. I don't want YOUR personal experiances. What YOU feel and what YOU think and what YOUR emotions are... this just doesn't apply to me. I am not YOU.

2) I think I was looking for more FACTS and not opinions. This book is full of opinions. I wanted more direct cause and effect statements, i.e. You feel this way because this happened. Maybe I was expecting the book to psychoanalyze me and give me some direction through my grief, but it didn’t.

The book as a whole is full of nonsense and not the least bit helpful, but I have gleaned a little bit of perspective out of it. Like the average grieving period is 18-24 months for some people, but for close family and friends it could take years!

In the end, can emotions really be measured and quantified?

According to encyclopedia.com “Emotion: term commonly and loosely used to denote individual, subjective feelings which dictate moods. In psychology, emotion is considered a response to stimuli that involves characteristic physiological changes—such as increase in pulse rate, rise in body temperature, greater or less activity of certain glands, change in rate of breathing—and tends in itself to motivate the individual toward further activity…. Since emotions are abstract and subjective, however, they remain difficult to quantify: some theories point out that non-Western cultural groups experience emotions quite distinct from those generally seen as "basic" in the West.”


So no, not really. All these books about counseling and grief/loss are all just other peoples opinions. The only one I can really trust is my own.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful book full of gentle hope and validity. It uses GA quotes and scriptures along with current psychology studies and lots of personal stories. I would recommend this book to anyone who has experienced loss (and most of us have).

Afew gripes were that this seems to have been published by a smaller house and you can see it in the editing. The content editing was well-done, but the grammar editing was horrendous. It often distracted me and that's not good in a psychology book nor an LDS one. There were typos all over the place and most of it was in punctuation. All sorts of misplaced commas and apostrophes.

If you can get past that, and I sure hope you can, this is a tender book that is easy to read and *very* helpful for those going through and those trying to help others with loss.

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for those who are grieving after a loss or for those who want to understand what their loved ones are going through. This book helped me understand that what I'm feeling isn't abnormal, and it's OK to feel however I need to feel through such a loss.

The editor in me was annoyed by some issues throughout the book. For example, "angels" was written as "angles" one time and some misspellings, too. This isn't the author's fault, but I'm disappointed with Cedar Fort, the publishing company. I know they're better than that; I used to intern for them.

I would recommend this for anyone who has experienced a loss. It's good to know that you're not alone in your pain.

[Sandra Strange · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, by professional people skilled in grief counselling, melds the latest in research on grief with LDS doctrine. It goes through all kinds of grief from grief from loss of a loved one to grief over infertility, abuse, marital problems, etc. It's a really good resource for the grieving, as well as those loved ones and friends who need to know what to say and what not to say to those experiencing grief.

[Bethany S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been my favorite book on grief so far. If you've ever known someone who is grieving, and you want to help, but don't know how...please read this book. Its inexpensive, its easy and quick to read. In a few days, just by reading this book, you'll do more to help that person than anything else you could think of doing (or not doing).

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book after experiencing a death of a loved one. It helped me cope with feelings I had during the experience. It has also helped me be more understanding to those who also experience loss of any kind.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about different kinds of loss, the do's and dont's as what to say. Great perspective!