Struck: One Christian's Reflections on Encountering Death

"Struck will hearten those adrift in the valleys. You know who you are." Leif Enger, Bestselling Author of Peace Like A River "When my doctor told me I was dying, I came alive."What happens when you come face-to-face with your mortality? When your body fails you, what happens to your faith?Russ Ramsey was struck by a bacterial infection that destroyed his mitral valve, sending him into heart failure and requiring urgent open-heart surgery. As he faced the possibility of death, he found himself awakened to new realities. In the critical days and months that followed, Ramsey came to see the world through the eyes of affliction. He grappled with fear, anger, depression, and loss, and yet he experienced grace through the suffering that filled him with a hope and hunger for the life to come.This profoundly eloquent memoir gives voice to the deepest questions of the human condition. In the midst of pain, we can see glimpses of eternity.Review"In prose allowing the passage of light, Russ Ramsey blazes a trail of affliction and belief. No one hopes for the crucible but this piercing account makes room for honest lament, complaint and anger en route to simplicity and a faith purged of sentiment. Struck will hearten those adrift in the valleys. You know who you are." (Leif Enger, bestselling author of Peace Like A River and So Brave, Young, and Handsome)Review"Struck is a visceral, haunting book that surprises the reader by driving them to a place of hope and joy. As I read Russ Ramsey's story, I found myself contemplating my own mortality, my own vulnerability. But due to the author's sharp gospel focus, that contemplation didn't take me to fear, but to Jesus. I think you will experience the same as you read this thoughtful, liberating book." -- Russell Moore, president of the ethics and religious liberty commission of the Southern Baptist ConventionAbout the AuthorRuss Ramsey is a pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee, where he lives with his wife and four children. His writing has appeared at The Rabbit Room, The Gospel Coalition, The Art House, and He Reads Truth. He is the author of Behold the Lamb of God and was awarded the 2016 Christian Book Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association for his book Behold the King of Glory.