A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser
Week 3: Chapter 2 — The Loneliness of Loss
Read Chapter 2 of A Grace Disguised.
Previewing Week 3 of A Grace Disguised
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 14-week guide when you’re ready.
Grief is one of the most isolating experiences a human being can face — even when surrounded by people — and Sittser names that loneliness with unflinching honesty.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.Sittser describes grief as ultimately a solitary experience — one that cannot be fully shared or communicated to another person. Do you agree? Why or why not?
2.He writes about the well-meaning but often unhelpful responses of people around him after the accident. What kinds of things did people say or do that, however kindly intended, added to his pain rather than easing it? Have you experienced something similar?
3.Sittser distinguishes between people who try to take away his pain and people who simply enter into it with him. Who in his story did the latter? What made the difference?
a.Think of a time when someone truly "entered into" your pain rather than trying to fix it. What did they do, and how did it feel?
b.Think of a time when you tried to fix someone else's grief prematurely. What drove that impulse?