Monday, July 21, 2008

Any book recommendations for somebody seriously ill?

We have a person we care about who has a seriously debilitating illness, needing a lot of personal care.  She has some depression now, which is understandable, but she isn’t seeking enough help with that.  Other family members are wondering about some suggestions for reading material, especially in the area of faith and spirituality during an illness.  Do you know of anything that might help? 

 

Of course, there is more to this story that I’m not mentioning.  This person is a Christian, but I think that due to long time confinement in her home, she has lost touch with the church she was a member of.  Knowing her, I’m guessing that she hasn’t asked for pastoral visits.  Fortunately, LSS is sending in some visitors recently.

4 comments:

  1. Yes, I have a recommendation. Though it is the subject of controversy in some circles, "The Shack" in parabolic form deals with suffering and pain and why God allows it. It's a wonderful glimpse into God's loving heart of his children. You can even read a chapter at http://theshackbook.com/. Blessings.

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  2. LSS would be more up on the best new books than I am. You should ask them to recommend something.

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  3. I have just stumbled over here from Nancy Near Philidelphia's blog and would recommend A Whole New Life: an illness and a healing by Reynolds Price. This is about Price's battle with cancer and his drive to find that deep source of faith in the midst of his illness. I read it a number of years ago when my husband was struggling with back problems and was sliding into a depression that I feared would take him away from me.

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  4. I don't have any reading suggestions right now but I do have a woman who is confined to her home. What we do is bring her an audio copy of the worship service along with a bulletin every week. She also has her own hymnal. She has told me on a number of occasions that she feels connected to the church again. She listens to the tape a couple times before her brother picks it up later in the week.

    If I think of any reading material I will let you know.

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And what do you think?