This is Holy Week for those of us in the Orthodox Church. I had intended to provide daily patristic citations from Holy Wednesday through Easter Sunday. But I have changed my mind.
This morning I drove past the parking lot from which my son Aaron jumped to his death on 15 June 2012. I began to weep. When I got home I found myself sobbing on the floor for twenty minutes. I had not cried like this for several months. I decided that I finally needed to read a little book that has been sitting on my nightstand since September: Lament for a Son by Christian philosopher Nicholas Wolterstorff.
Between now and Pascha, I will provide citations from this book. Wolterstorff’s grief for his son Eric rhymes with my grief for Aaron. Eric died in a mountain climbing accident. Aaron died from despair and intense personal suffering. Perhaps these citations will be a blessing to you this week. I cannot think of Christ’s passion and death in the same way. I can only think of my son’s passion and death.
Eclectic Orthodoxy 