Category Archives: Nicholas Wolfterstorff

Lament for a Son . . . Any Son . . . Every Son

This morning ten years ago two police officers knocked on our door to inform us that our beloved son Aaron had died by suicide. It is not easy to speak of the horror of that day and the weeks and … Continue reading

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“It’s been a year now since I last saw this small patch of earth”

It’s been a year now since I last saw this small patch of earth. Then it was piles of dirt and a hole. Now I can scarcely tell. Then it was surrounded by teared humanity. Now just mother and father, … Continue reading

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I wish to thank those of you who have sat with me on the mourning bench these past five days. It was important for me to pray … and reflect upon … and simply feel the death of my son … Continue reading

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“If you want to know who I am, put your hand in”

“Put your hand into my wounds,” said the risen Jesus to Thomas, “and you will know who I am.” The wounds of Christ are his identity. They tell us who he is. He did not lose them. They went down … Continue reading

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“Only our death can stop the pain of his death”

It’s the neverness that is so painful. Never again to be here with us–never to sit with us at table, never to travel with us, never to laugh with us, never to cry with us, never to embrace us as … Continue reading

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“Perhaps it has been a mistake to think that God reveals himself”

Truly, you are a God who hides yourself, O God of Israel, the Savior” (Isa. 45:15). “A religion which does not affirm that God is hidden is not true. Vere tu es Deus absconditus–truly you are a hidden God” (Pascal). … Continue reading

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“When we’re all together, we’re not all together”

When we gather now there’s always someone missing, his absence as present as our presence, his silence as loud as our speech. Still five children, but one always gone. When we’re all together, we’re not all together. Nicholas Wolterstorff

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“When God’s cup of suffering is full, our world’s redemption is fulfilled”

We’re in it together, God and we, together in the history of our world. The history of our world is the history of our suffering together. Every act of evil extracts a tear from God, every plunge into anguish extracts … Continue reading

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