Permission to Grieve

Faith for the Wounded When Truth and Love Are Not Enough

Permission to Grieve is written for those whose faith has not failed—but has been wounded.

There are seasons when Scripture remains true and love remains sincere, yet neither feels sufficient to carry the weight of loss. In those seasons, grief does not ask to be explained or corrected. It asks to be honored.

Drawing from decades of pastoral ministry, personal loss, hospice work, and lived faith, Geoffrey Schmitt writes as a companion rather than a guide. This book does not rush healing, demand optimism, or offer tidy answers. Instead, it offers permission—permission to grieve honestly, to lament without apology, and to trust that God remains present even when silence lingers.

Through reflections on shock, loneliness, divine absence, lament, leadership, enduring love, and hope that waits, Permission to Grieve reframes sorrow not as a failure of faith, but as one of its deepest expressions. Grief is not something to “get over,” but something that can be carried, integrated, and even transformed into compassion.

This book is for the wounded believer, the tired caregiver, the grieving leader, and anyone who has learned that love leaves a mark. It is written not to fix grief, but to walk with it—and to remind the reader, gently and truthfully.