Gifts of Passage

January 28, 2008
Few events in life leave us more vulnerable and potentially open to God's gifts than the death of a loved one. The death of Hollingsworth's father while she was writing her first book, The Simple Faith of Mister Rogers
, gave her the opportunity and desire to discover what legacies the dying leave behind. While searching for the meaning of her father's final moments, Hollingsworth talked to or read about others who had experienced gifts in the midst of loss, and movingly recounts their stories. While some of the anecdotes are familiar, such as C.S. Lewis's loss of his wife, Joy, many of the most touching are of ordinary people whose gifts are occasionally physical—e.g., a locket that had not yet been given—but more often are ones of relationship. Hollingsworth concludes with the powerful story of her father's death and her discovery that his last moments offered her much needed healing of their difficult relationship. Those who question whether God orchestrates all that happens in our lives will struggle with that implied theology here, but those who find comfort in that perspective will experience Hollingsworth as a warm and gracious companion for the grieving process.