Broken Bodies, Healing Hearts

Witness the wonder of divine power when faith in God overcomes human frailty! Broken Bodies, Healing Hearts: Reflections of a Hospital Chaplain provides chaplains, doctors, nurses, psychologists, and counselors with insight into the experiences of individual hospital patients. You'll learn of the suffering that they endure, and what patients and caretakers can learn about themselves and God through their ordeals. This is a wonderful collection of descriptive, personal, and heartfelt essays, each derived from a visit with a particular patient. These episodes demonstrate the wonder of divine strength manifested in human frailty. You'll see the spiritual aspects of both significant and common events, inspiring you to contemplate and appreciate all of your life experiences. Broken Bodies, Healing Hearts will help you unravel daily questions and problems and encourage you to seek God's eminent presence in all of your experiences. This intriguing collection demonstrates what it means to be human and what it means to be made in God's likeness. You will explore the heartwrenching struggles of unique individuals, such as: Jimmy Meyer, a three-year-old toddler with a terminal brain tumor, who takes each day for whatever it could offer him. His simple trust teaches us all to grow in our faith and seek the child within ourselves Mr. Nelson, who after suffering a heart attack and facing the possibility of death, recounts how the experience served to turn his life from one of anger and resentment to one of peace and freedom, reminding us all of the healing power of grace when we are willing to receive it Martha Claxton, a fifty-eight-year-old woman battling leukemia. In finally letting go she experiences God's eternal security, inviting each of us to surrender our lives to the One who knows our every need Ms. May, a thirty-eight-year-old with Down's Syndrome, who touches all those whom she comes in contact with. Her ability to live fully in the present moment reminds us that whatever is happening now is worth our undivided attention Enlightening and moving, Broken Bodies, Healing Hearts reveals the presence of God in the lives of patients, chaplains, and all those who care for others. You will discover the connection between human vulnerability and spiritual growth.

Gretchen W. TenBrook is a former Adunct Chaplain in the Department of Pastoral Care at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.