In the darkest corners of our lives, where sorrow, trauma, grief and pain reside, there exists a profound capacity for resilience and hope. Telling Stories in the Dark by Jeffrey Munroe is a uniquely inspiring non-fiction book that illuminates the transformative power of sharing our most profound experiences of suffering.

In this book you will encounter the stories of ordinary individuals who, when confronted with profound adversity, chose to do something extraordinary: they transformed their pain. Munroe, a skilled storyteller and compassionate guide, takes us on a poignant journey through the lives of these remarkable individuals who have harnessed the redemptive potential of their suffering, what Munroe’s mentor Frederick Buechner calls “the stewardship of pain.”

When we tell our stories, and when we listen well to each other’s stories, we discover much about what it means to be human. We discover there are others like us. We discover our feelings aren’t unusual. We discover we aren’t alone. And sometimes we discover God in the midst of our stories.

Among the many authors, scholars and counselors you will meet in the chapters of this book are the late Frederick Buechner, the bestselling author who is one of Munroe’s mentors, plus Roger Nelson, pastor of Hope Christian Reformed Church in Oak Forest, Illinois; psychologist Daniel Rooks; scholar and author Marilyn McEntyre; Mitch Kinsinger, pastor of Arlington Hills Lutheran Church in St. Paul, Minnesota; therapist Mary Anderson; Suzanne McDonald and Chuck DeGroat, professors at Western Theological Seminary; poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer; pastor Sophie Mathonnet-VanderWell; Yale University professor emeritus Nicholas Wolterstorff; and artist Makoto Fujimura.

Through the power of sharing our stories, Munroe invites us to connect with these brave individuals, each of whom has found a unique path to healing, and in doing so, he illuminates the collective potential for resilience that exists within us all.