Discuss Grief: A Discussion Guide for A Grief Observed

GrievingTeens.com

If there is only one book to read in grief

I would encourage you to read C.S. Lewis A Grief Observed.

I wrote this review. The book can be found on iTunes audiobooks.

"The logical Oxford University Don of the cover of Time on September 8, 1947 was known for his logical, systematic defense of the faith; his simple, yet profound thought.

By 1944, C.S. Lewis had become a household name in the United Kingdom due to his series of BBC talks during WWI, which later became Mere Christianity, and The Screwtape Letters. Throughout his short, yet momentous life, he rationally and effectively handled topics as disparate as medieval literature, the rational basis for good and evil, and the problem of pain, composing answers to the hard questions of life with a logic that continues to challenge minds today. But in Lewis’ life, as in ours, the “real test” was not in the advice that he gave to others, but in the way he lived his life.

Here we see him broken and raw. The insights he comes to in grief are from a journey of pain and loss that nearly overwhelmes him. His faith remained and we can learn from his grief journey."

Purchase this book and gain further insites about grief.

This book was written to help teens in grief support groups.

It is my hope it can be a help to you. Questions about the book by Dr. Tom Morris

C. S. Lewis an Oxford and Cambridge University Don, writer, and well known speaker in the United Kingdom during World War II, who was also a close friend and confidant of J.R.R. Tolkein, got married late in life. He had thought that love had passed him by until he met Joy Davidman a former Communist and Jewish American atheist who had become a Christian and a fan of Lewis writings. At first their relationship was Platonic but in time it grew to be romantic. He was happy and fulfilled like never before. But in a few years, death would take the Joy that had surprised him late in life. Broken in grief he withdrew and began to write his thoughts and feelings down in a notebook.

Lewis feelings and musings were first published in 1961. Since then it has helped thousands and thousands of people who have read it or have spoken of its contents. This study is to encourage you to read the book in its entirety. It is to help you grapple with issues of grief that Lewis and all mankind struggles with in grief. Through the reading of this book and discussing it may you observe griefs effects on your life.

Each page is designed to be a discussion session for a group or 5-12 students. Discuss the passage of A Grief Observed prior to delving into the questions. Allow each student to respond to the first question before going on to the next. Allow for more time if some student has difficulty understanding or answering the question.

It is my hope that these will assist you in helping young people make sense of death(s) in their lives. I thank God for C. S. Lewis who though dead before I ever opened one of his books mentored me in thought and in communication. The shine is still in them for me.