My lung cancer surgery in 1990 prompted me to write two books on making one’s way as a Christian through illness. (HOSPITAL GOWNS DON’T HAVE POCKETS and ARE YOU MAD AT ME, GOD?) I ventured to assist readers with some biblical, psychological, emotional, spiritual, and practical help to cope with the trauma of suffering and pain by trusting in the Lord and maintaining an optimistic future outlook.
When my husband died, I wrote several books to help Christians through the grieving process to healthy adjustment. (SINGLED OUT FOR GOD’S ASSIGNMENT with separate Study Guide, THE WIDOW’S MIGHT, and WALK THE GREEN VALLEY.) All of my published books are reviewed and can be ordered from my web site: www.goldenmorning.com.
I studied these topics at length and prayed for Scriptural understanding and balance. Above all, I wanted to know God’s full revelation on these matters because it directly affected the help I could offer people. After I became a Catholic Christian in 2005, I discovered there are some further biblical faith dimensions on those subjects that I overlooked and would like to share with my readers.
The conclusion from my study and my understanding now as a confirmed Catholic Christian is that I continue to stand behind the basic contents of my published books as far as they went. But I believe there is MORE. We all go through common human struggles. All of us will experience some illnesses, weaknesses, pain, loss of loved ones, and aging with the inevitable deterioration of our mortal bodies. All of us will eventually die. God has not left us without guidance and comfort. How we respond to such seemingly negative conditions of life is all important.
The subtitle of one of my books on illness is “Discovering meaning in physical distress.” It would be presumptuous for me to say that I have the final answers or that “one size fits all” with any counsel I offer. However, I believe I may not have gone deep enough in what I shared with my readers because at the time I was going through those experiences and published those books, I honestly didn’t know there was more. We are dealing with divine mysteries, and we shouldn’t expect or demand to know all the answers this side of heaven. Nevertheless, with deep conviction and my desire to be even more helpful, I now insert an addendum sheet into my books on the above topics before I sell them.
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If you would like to receive a copy of “A Further Word on Illness and Suffering” and/or “A Further Word about the Loss of a Loved One” leave your request includin your e-mail address in “Comments” at the end of this post. I will send a copy(s) to you as an Attachment, free of charge, of course.
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