Scholarly insight and reflection on finding meaning in the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic caused a horrific loss of life and had tremendous, long-lasting psychological effects. Diagnoses of anxiety and mental illness are now at much higher levels than they were in 2019. For believers, the pandemic raised questions about the nature of God, increasing the need for pastoral care and resources to make sense of such a deep disruption.
Gratitude, Injury, and Repair in a Pandemic Age presents twelve reflections on the pandemic and its impact from the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, nonbelieving, and Christian traditions. The chapters offer scholarly insight and rigor while also incorporating personal reflections on what it means to work through such a life-changing event and make meaning in the moments when life confronts us as partial, fragmented, and fragile.
This edited volume will be valuable for students and scholars of multiple faith traditions, as well as those engaged in interreligious dialogue and theology.
Reviews
"Taking a kaleidoscopic approach to the intersection of gratitude, injury, and repair, this collection of essays by a diverse roster of scholars considers themes of illness, trauma, racism, healthcare, politics, sacramentality, and grace in a manner that makes a superior contribution to—and indeed transcends—the genre of pandemic assessment literature. Ethicists, theologians, sociologists, and chaplains will find much to engage herein—as will anyone seeking a fresh means of making sense of the COVID era."—Lucinda Mosher, director, Master of Arts in Interreligious Studies Program, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace
"This is more than an edited volume: it is a graced accident, the witness of a community of scholars reflecting on our shared vulnerability in the midst of an unexpected, disruptive global pandemic. It is enlightening, challenging, and profoundly moving."—Reid B. Locklin, associate professor of Christianity and culture, St. Michael's College, University of Toronto
About the Author
Michael Reid Trice, PhD, is Spehar-Halligan professor in constructive theology and founding director of the Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement at Seattle University. He publishes and presents in the areas of religious literacy, pluralism, and structural analysis. He is currently co-editing a multi-author volume on leadership (Georgetown University Press, 2026). As of Fall 2024, he teaches in the Executive Leadership Program through the Albers School of Business and Economics at Seattle University. Patricia O'Connell Killen, PhD, is a professor of religion, emerita, and a Humanities Faculty Fellow at Pacific Lutheran University. She has published extensively on religion in the Pacific Northwest, Catholicism in North America, and faith-inspired higher education. Most recently, she co-edited Religion at the Edge: Nature, Spirituality, and Secularity in the Pacific Northwest (2022).
