GLORIOUS RUIN How Suffering Makes You Free

Kelly Ryan Dolan uses youthful, clear diction to treat readers to Pastor Tchividjian’s ruminations on pain and suffering, which purport that pain is unavoidable. With measured tones, Dolan delivers the author’s descriptions of suffering as a universal experience. Listeners learn it’s not a question of if or when we suffer, it’s about who we suffer with. Compelling spiritual nuggets like, “powerlessness is the beginning of freedom” and “desperation precedes deliverance” are conveyed with authenticity. Dolan’s narration on “moralizing,” which the author makes sound like cosmic payback for something done or not done, is understated. The discussion of “minimizing,” which invalidates the one suffering with words like “It could be worse,” is especially believable in its essence and delivery. Tchividjian’s writings point to Christ, just as his grandfather Billy Graham’s words pointed to salvation. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2012]