Cancer and Healing : Memoirs of Gratitude and Hope

by Deweese, Charles W.

• ISBN13: 9780881463439
• ISBN10: 0881463434
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-03-30
• Publisher: Mercer Univ Pr

Summary

Cancer and Healing: Memoirs of Gratitude and Hope provides first-person glimpses into the cancer experiences of eighteen Baptists. In fact, every person connected with this book, including the publishing director, editor, and writers, has had and/or currently has cancer. Their very lives comprise the primary resources of this work. Since more than half a million people die in the United States every year from cancer, writers included in this volume feel a strong sense of gratitude and hope. They share passionately about their own survival experiences and compassionately for those who do not survive and for those for whom the announcement of cancer may picture into their tomorrows.Autobiography, honestly written, can provide extraordinary insights into basic human achievements and dilemmas. Writings about oneself, including experiences, attitudes, and lessons, can penetrate deep into one's identity and can even expose one's vulnerabilities. While risky, such efforts at laying out the soul constitute the true stuff of a person's life situation. This book takes that risk, believing that while frank and open talk about a particular illness-cancer-can get intensely personal, the purpose is to help readers deal redemptively with cancer and its treatments and side effects.These writers, male and female, white and black, live in ten states. They have suffered various cancers: carcinoma, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, melanoma, and others, which have affected many parts of their bodies and emotions. They have not written to make money. All royalties from sales of this book will be donated to the American Cancer Society. Each contributor knows the suffering related to cancer and its treatment. More importantly, each has experienced a growing appreciation for the healing power of God and biblical values as a consequence of being forced to delve into a dark and difficult world.

Author Biography

Charles W. Deweese retired in 2009 as executive director of the Baptist History and Heritage Society in Atlanta, Georgia, a position he had held since 1999. Previously, he served on the staffs of Providence House Publishers in Franklin, Tennessee, in 1995-1998, and the Historical Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1978-1994. He has authored/edited numerous books and booklets in Baptist studies, including Women Deacons and Deaconesses: 400 Years of Baptist Service (Mercer, 2005).

Table of Contents

Introduction: Soul-Jerking Journeys toward Healing	p. 1
From Fear to Faith	p. 8
Befriending Fear	p. 19
One of the Better Cancers to Get	p. 29
Objects in Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear	p. 40
My Experience with Melanoma	p. 68
Sharing More Than Scars	p. 59
No Jokes on April Fools' Day	p. 68
The Chemotherap-ista Reports	p. 78
Cancer Cannot…	p. 96
Dividing Time	p. 103
Prostate Cancer and Ancient Philosophy	p. 112
Where Is God in All This?	p. 123
Discovering Life's Meaning via the Shock Waves of Cancer	p. 130
Life's Fragility and God's Sufficiency	p. 142
God, Me, and Cancer	p. 152
Allowing Space for Grace	p. 162
The Goodness of God	p. 172
Looking the "Big C" Straight in the Face	p. 176
Index	p. 187
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.