The downfall of Ted Haggard has featured sex, drugs, public humiliation and betrayal–but in spiritual terms, this is all just rubbernecking. The story that redeems this scandal is, How did Gayle Haggard, wife of the fallen megachurch minister, manage her feelings and resolve to stay with Ted? How did she forgive?
The good news is we’re about to find out. Gayle will publish her side of the tale early next year with the release of a book titled “Why I Stayed.” We’ve heard Gayle talk about the necessity of forgiveness in her decision to save her 30-year marriage. But in the interview footage I’ve seen, Ted still does most of the talking. I want to hear from Gayle how she rebuilt her trust and her attraction to a man who is not who he said he was.

The bad news is that the book will be published by Tyndale, the publisher of Bibles and other Christian devotionals, which to me there’s going to be more Christian healing than heartache in the book. It’s not that I need to hear graphic details about sex–hetero, homo or “not in normal boxes,” in Ted’s words–but a spiritual reckoning like Gayle’s is on the level of an Olympic event; it can’t be worked out without feelings and words that are less than G-rated, as I’m afraid Tyndale will demand that it be.
Can anyone come up with a book that Tyndale publishes that proves me wrong?