Struck: One Christian's Reflections on Encountering Death - Softcover

"In the beautiful telling of his own brush with death and the process of recovery, Russ shows us, in a most moving and lovely and hopeful fashion, what it means to find joy in the sorrow, beauty in the ashes, light in the darkness, intimacy in the fear, love in the losses, water in the wilderness, music in the sorrow, and yes, even life in the dying."--From the foreword by Scott Sauls, senior pastor, Christ Presbyterian Church, Nashville, author of Jesus Outside the Lines and BeFriend

"Russ has a way of articulating the complex intersection of faith and suffering that is profound yet approachable. In sharing this honest and beautifully written account of his own life-and-death experience, he succeeds in upholding both the mystery and confidence of the gospel, compelling us to take a closer look at a God who is as kind as he is sovereign."--Amanda Bible Williams, coauthor of She Reads Truth

"When my doctor told me I was dying, I came alive." What happens when you come face to face with your mortality? When your body fails you, what happens to your faith? Russ Ramsey was struck by a bacterial infection that destroyed his mitral valve, sending him into heart failure and requiring urgent open-heart surgery. As he faced the possibility of death, he found himself awakened to new realities. In the critical days and months that followed, Ramsey came to see the world through the eyes of affliction. He grappled with fear, anger, depression, and loss, and yet he experienced grace through the suffering that filled him with a hope and hunger for the life to come. This profoundly eloquent memoir gives voice to the deepest questions of the human condition. In the midst of pain, we can see glimpses of eternity.