Overview

A compassionate vision for living in relationship with those affected by suicide Rhonda Mawhood Lee is a priest, spiritual director, and daughter whose mother died by suicide. She knows about complicated grief. Having grown up in a family haunted by self-inflicted death for multiple generations, Rhonda has asked and re-asked the questions for which there are no easy answers. And she knows she's not alone in her search for understanding. Drawing on her vocational insights and personal experiences, Lee offers a compassionate vision for understanding and responding to suicide. With clarity and candor, she reflects on the unintended consequences of many traditional Christian teachings around suicide. In search of a better way, Lee turns to the communion of saints--a theologically rich concept that Christians can draw on to reframe their relationships with people who have died by suicide, and with those who are at risk of ending their own lives. Through this sensitive and thoughtful resource, readers will learn what it might mean to stay in relationship with both the living and the dead, bearing witness to hope and faith in God's creative and redemptive love.

Full Product Details

9780802884718

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Reviews

""The loss of a loved one to suicide is, among all other losses, uniquely blistering: it can be fraught with feelings of guilt, rejection, shame, isolation. Living in the wake of her mother's suicide, Rhonda Mawhood Lee shares hard-won wisdom in this pastorally sensitive and theologically informed book. She unflinchingly stares down the horror of suicide by affirming that the mercy of God extends to those who die at their own hand. In a time when even pre-teen suicides are on the rise, this book is a must read for clergy who will, no doubt at some point, face a suicide in their own flock."" --Kathryn Greene-McCreight, author of Darkness Is My Only Companion: A Christian Response to Mental Illness ""Vivid, this book is. Searing. Learned. Compassionate. Wise. And perhaps oddly, given the gravity of the topic, reading Suicide and the Communion of Saints is--I won't say 'pleasurable, ' but deeply satisfying, in that rare way that only reading something true, important, and translucent to the light of Jesus can be."" --Lauren F. Winner, Duke Divinity School ""Offering a more healing Christian approach to suicide, Rhonda Mawhood Lee's book is both compassionate and honest in equal measure. For anybody pondering the theological implications of suicide, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. It is a balm for the soul."" --Elizabeth Antus, Georgetown University ""Suicide is a mixture of what we can never fully know about ourselves and one another, and what we wish always to trust about forever and God. Rhonda Mawhood Lee embraces the former and articulates the latter in a care-full, compassionate, and compelling way. This study plumbs the depths of what suicide means but rises with the glory of who God still is."" --Samuel Wells, St. Martin-in-the-Fields ""Like many people, my family and faith community have been affected by suicide. This book is an invaluable resource for those who have questions about the theological implications of suicide, including the role of sin and grace. I strongly recommend this book to anyone--including clergy and lay leaders--as essential reading as we continue to seek a faith-based response to the growing epidemic of suicide both within the US and around the world."" --Kate H. Rademacher, author of Reclaiming Rest: The Promise of Sabbath, Solitude, and Stillness in a Restless World

Author Information

Rhonda Mawhood Lee is an Episcopal priest, historian, and spiritual director. Currently, she serves on the Episcopal Church's General Board of Examining Chaplains. She has also worked as a translator, college teacher, and advocate for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Her publications include Seek and You Will Find: Discovering a Practice of Prayer.

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