Blessed Are the Crazy: Breaking the Silence about Mental Illness, Family, and Church
by Sarah Griffith Lund
"A brave and beautiful memoir that will open up conversations about some of the most neglected, shadowy corners in our human experience.” –Anna Carter Florence, Columbia Theological Seminary
When do you learn that “normal” doesn’t include lots of yelling, lots of sleeping, lots of beating? In Blessed Are the Crazy: Breaking the Silence about Mental Illness, Family, and Church, Sarah Griffith Lund looks back at her father’s battle with bipolar disorder, and the helpless sense of déjà vu as her brother and cousin endure mental illness, as well. She seeks answers in her faith communities, from feeling pain in God’s presence, through seeing the Holy Spirit on Death Row as she witnesses her cousin’s execution.
With a small group study guide and “Ten Steps for Developing a Mental Health Ministry in Your Congregation,” Blessed Are the Crazy is more than memoir—it’s a resource for churches and other faith-based groups to provide healing and comfort. As Sarah writes, “This testimony is for anybody who has ever wondered how God can use craziness to teach us about the depths of human and divine love.”
Published in partnership with The Young Clergy Women Project.
Download the Free Study Guide by Sarah Griffith Lund and Kim Gage Ryan
NEW! Mental Health: A Guide for Faith Leaders by the American Psychiatric Association
Endorsements
"With hands outstretched, Rev. Sarah Lund brings forth the offering of her testimony, giving the reader an understanding of what it means to have, as she puts it, 'crazy in the blood.' Blessed Are the Crazy entreats readers to listen to and walk beside our friends and families as they carry crosses we cannot see. Only by breaking the silence surrounding mental illness can we understand the power of God's healing love."―Rebecca Dix, excerpted from a review at Christian Feminism Today
"Poignant, relevant, and profound. This book can and will change the ways that we talk about mental illness."–Brenda Lovick, Young Clergy Women
"A brave and beautiful memoir, told with compassion and tenderness, that will open up conversations about some of the most neglected, shadowy corners in our human experience. Sarah Griffith Lund has given the church a gift: the chance to walk, as Jesus did, in the company of those who bear the blessings and marks of a crazy cross."–Anna Carter Florence, Columbia Theological Seminary
"Blessed Are The Crazy breaks through the shame and stigma of telling our stories of mental illness. Lund not only shares her story, but a vision for a church that welcomes and accepts people with mental illness exactly as they are, and uses storytelling as a way to take the next step."–dmergent.com
"Sarah Lund offers a beautiful and brutally honest account of mental illness in her family and its impact on her ministry. There is neither romanticism nor hopelessness in these pages. Rather she shares a story that is both introspective and prophetic, and invites us all to share in this lifelong struggle between shadow and light." –Stacy Smith, editor, Church Health Reader, and co-author, Bless Her Heart: Life As a Young Clergy Woman
"This is one of the most beautiful and courageous books I have read in a long time. Sarah doesn't presume to offer any kind of quick cure for mental illness, as there is none. However, as she so clearly and beautifully writes, she offers healing. –Dr. Ed Boye, "Musings: Reflections on Being"
"Sarah's book is a detailed, personal story-telling of the impact that the mental illnesses in her family has had on her life. As she wrestles with her experiences, she affirms that to tell the true story is to heal. Her faith comes alive in the telling and we, as readers, can find hope in her words." –The Rev. Alan Johnson, United Church of Christ Mental Health Network and the Interfaith Network on Mental Illness