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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Tragedy Can Make Soul Grow Stronger

In September 1991, something so horrible happened to Whitworth religion professor Jerry Sittser that if you think on it too long, if you imagine it happening in your own life, your mind changes the subject quickly. It’s that painful.

Sittser’s van, in which his entire family was riding, was hit head-on by a racing car on a remote stretch of Idaho highway. Sittser’s wife, mother and 4-year-old daughter died at the scene. Sittser, and three of his children, survived. He immediately faced unspeakable agony. And the overwhelming task of raising his children amid his grief - and theirs.

Sittser’s recent book “A Grace Disguised: How The Soul Grows Through Loss” describes his journey through tragedy and grief. Though he has vowed not to talk publicly anymore about the accident and its aftermath, Sittser’s book is selling well. Try to find a copy at an Inland Northwest bookstore - Christian or secular - and chances are your name will be placed on a waiting list.

It’s a testament to the Sittser’s powerful message. “We are remarkably resilient creatures,” he writes. “When knocked down, most of us get up, like weeds bouncing back after being trampled. We love again, work again, and hope again. We think it is worth the risk and trouble to live in the world, though terrors surely await us, and we take our chances that, all things considered, life is still worth living.”

Sittser’s message is especially needed this Easter, considering the unthinkable tragedies that have shocked the country, and the Inland Northwest, since last Easter. The Oklahoma City bombing. The Moses Lake shooting. The Deer Park car accidents that killed several young people. The Ridpath waitress shot to death by a customer. And the brutal killing of 9-year-old Rachel Carver.

This is a short list. Much more happened to people in public and private that devastated their sense of order and justice. On the Perspective page today, Janice Everhart describes her struggle to come back from a freak accident that almost killed her. She was running an errand one moment and in a coma the next.

Easter is about resurrection. And those who survive terrible things have much to say about what it means to return to “life” after great mishaps to the body and the soul. Sittser does not gloss over the wrenching despair of the past four years. Nor does Everhart pretend that just because she lived, everything is wonderful. But both of their stories are filled with hope - and grace.

Sittser’s deep faith in God abides, as does this realization: “Loss does not have to isolate us. … Loss is also a common experience that can lead us to community. It can create a community of brokenness. We must enter the darkness of loss alone, but once there we will find others with whom we can share life together.”

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rebecca Nappi/For the editorial board