By Sarah Beckman
My Personal Takeaways →Alongside addresses one of the most awkward and important things Christians are called to do: sit with people in their suffering without trying to fix it. Beckman writes from personal experience with crisis and loss, offering a practical and compassionate guide for showing up well — not with answers, but with presence.
The book identifies the most common ways people inadvertently make suffering worse (platitudes, unsolicited advice, avoidance) and replaces them with concrete practices for meaningful accompaniment. Read this if you feel helpless or clumsy when friends are in crisis. Implement it by memorizing three things to say and three things not to say, committing to follow up beyond the first week, and practicing the discipline of silence over advice when someone is in pain.