Book Recommendation: “Even in Darkness”
This month's book review is a devotional (devo) entitled “Even in Darkness", written by Morgan Cheek. I started it after a season of back-to-back trials: loss of friendships, the move to a new city, restarting school after 9 years, job loss, a new president, new business, two family deaths in 30 days, and more.
For me, that was a lot, and I noticed, because my capacity was diminishing. When I moved to the city last year I was working 40 hours a week, knocking out several personal projects a day, cooking each night, and going on walks. But by March 2025, I was struggling to get anything other than work and my most pressing deadlines done, and I'd stopped cooking daily and working out altogether. The one day, while in conversation with a good friend, I realized that I had gone through a lot in the last several months and that what I was experiencing was grief.
So, I slowed down. I looked for little opportunities to spend time with the Lord and let myself be ok with the fact that quality time with Him might look different each day. I let it be ok to just accomplish 1-2 things a week outside of work and school, and didn't make myself work out. I ate Trader Joe's frozen meals, and gave myself permission to call my family and friends as often as I needed. And finally, I decided to make an intentional plan to tackle my grief. Part of that plan meant ordering a biblical book on grief: “Even in Darkness”.
The following is a quote from the devo that sums up why I chose it.
“During some of our foggiest days- my daughter’s diagnoses, hospital stays, or our time with hospice, for example- I found it was really hard to articulate the depths of my heart. I also found, however, that it was necessary to my very survival. And, the intimacy that developed between the Lord and me during those times was the only sanity I had when the bottom dropped out beneath me. I owe this book to those seasons. In these pages, you will find a lot of things, but one thing you will not find is some kind of formula. There have been many times when I have found myself picking up a book, opening it to a random page, and reading just one sentence while asking God to give me a bite of nourishment from those few words. In His grace, sometimes I would find that I actually felt fed from those words. Other times, I would slam the book shut, discouraged and feeling abandoned because, in spite of what I longed for, nothing seemed to sink into my weary soul. We intentionally did not label this book with specific days or much structure for that very reason. When your entire being is already feeling heavy, the last thing you need is someone to tell you one more way to do one more thing. There is no right way to read these pages. I trust the Holy Spirit to work in whatever method He chooses.”
In honoring the author's brevity for grieving people, I'll end my post shortly. If you're reading this because you’re grieving, give the book a try. If you are not grieving, keep the title in the back of your mind for yourself or a loved one. Life is full of seasons. When Jesus' season of death was to come, He said to His disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” I say to remind us that hardships come for everyone at one point or another. And I hope that knowing that helps you feel a little less crazy when hardships come. It's part of life. And when it happens, in your life or another's, whether big or small, still, keep this book in mind. It might be just what that person needs to express the grief that is boiling up inside.
