HEALING
SPIRITUALITY, HEALTH, AND HEALING
By Caroline Young and Cyndie Koopsen
247pp., Boston: Jones and Bartlett, 2005, $37.95, paperback.
Review: Young and Koopsen have collected a wealth of information about spirituality and how it impacts health and healing. Spirituality is explored from various disciplines as one's belief in God expressed through religious beliefs and practices (theology), as an expression of one's internal motives and desires (psychology), and as relationships, spiritual practices and rituals of groups of people (sociology). Nursing is viewed as incorporating all other perspectives using a holistic, health focus and specific diagnoses and interventions related to spiritual health. Spirituality is considered in three ways: as a necessary essence of life that energizes thought and action, as a belief in a power operating in the universe greater than one's self and as a sense of interconnectedness with all living creatures. Essential elements of spirituality include self, others, God; meaning and purpose; hope; relatedness/connectedness; and spiritual growth.
Healing is thought of as a broad spiritual process that attends to the wholeness of an individual throughout his lifetime. The authors discriminate between healing and curing, suggesting that "Curing is physical, alleviating the signs and symptoms of disease at the anatomical level. Healing, in contrast, is spiritual, intangible and experiential, involving an integration of body, mind and spirit. Curing is concerned with wholeness of body while healing is concerned with wholeness of being" (p. 15).
Within these nursing perspectives, Young and Koopsen survey numerous spiritual rituals (i.e., prayer, gratitude, art, spending time in nature). Their synthesis of current information and research on relationships between spirituality, religion, culture and health and practical application of this knowledge is valuable. Typical information on spiritual care (assessment, diagnosis, intervention) is provided, along with creative healing interventions (music, art, movement, humor, animals) and how to create spiritually healing environments. A healing environment is defined as "one in which individuals are supported and nurtured, in which they feel spiritually calm, and in which health and well-being are promoted" (p. 148) and include physical aspects (design, noise, etc.) and therapeutic use of self. Specific applications to end-of-life care and special populations (children, elderly) are made.
This book is a good resource for nurses wanting to understand current thinking in nursing about spirituality and healing. The authors offer a well-informed and balanced perspective that respects different views of spirituality and healing without promoting any of them. The depth and breadth of their exploration of healing and spirituality, with practical hands-on application, makes this book a keeper.-KSS
SABBATH KEEPING
FINDING FREEDOM IN THE RHYTHMS OF REST
By Lynne M. Baab
126 pp., Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005, $12.00, paperback.
Review: Baab has written a beautiful and enticing book, drawing the reader in to a rhythm for life that God designed-keeping a sabbath. Offering compelling data from Scripture and from over one hundred people who regularly keep a sabbath, Baab shares practical insights about how we can establish and maintain a rhythm of intentionally setting aside our work for one day each week to rest in the God who created and sustains the universe. Rather than being legalistic, the sabbath is a day to stop the typical activities that occupy our workdays-a job, answering emails, meetings, chores, etc.-and participate in activities that nurture peace, worship, relationship, celebration and thankfulness. These activities can be church attendance, prayer, Bible study, recreation, time in nature or with friends, or doing nothing. Noting that things that are work for some can be rest for others (i.e., yard work), the point is to clear away the distractions of our lives so we can rest in God and experience his grace in a new way. Baab suggests that the sabbath can be a 24-hour period on any day of the week and should be filled with activities that are restful and turn us toward God, along with needed activities such as food preparation or caring for children. She counters the American culture that values constant busy-ness and shows how sabbath keeping actually helps us become more productive in the other six days of the week. This book opened my eyes to a life of obedience to God that isn't measured by what I accomplish but by the condition of my heart and relationship with God and others. My goal after reading this book is to enter into sabbath keeping with my family.-KSS
EXPERIENCING HEALING PRAYER
HOW GOD TURNS OUR HURTS INTO WHOLENESS
By Rick Richardson
248 pp., Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005, $13.00, paperback.
Brief: Richardson presents a thorough book on healing prayer, while challenging readers to grow deeper in discipleship and prayer. He offers a biblical view of healing ministry, one that emphasizes listening to God, obedience to God, and reliance on the healing power of a sovereign, loving God. Richardson's personal transparency of healing invites us to open ourselves to deeper possibilities of God's healing work. Richardson touches people at the places where the Spirit can work: those dark points of brokenness, longing, pain, disadvantage and injustice. It's full of insights into our relationship with God, with ourselves and with others.
THE HEALING CONNECTION
THE STORY OF A PHYSICIAN'S SEARCH FOR THE LINK BETWEEN FAITH AND HEALTH
By Harold Koenig with Gregg Lewis
204 pp., Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press, 2000, $14.95, paperback.
Brief: Anyone familiar with Koenig's work will want to read this book revealing how Koenig's personal trials (his turbulent youth, expulsion from medical school, former battle with mental illness, ongoing struggle with a chronic, debilitating physical disease) became the catalyst for his pioneering research that has elucidated the connection between faith and health. The book is a personal testimony of how God changed one life, an instructional book about religion and health and a challenge to develop constructive ways of implementing the healing connection that can be found in faith.
THE NEARLY PERFECT CRIME
HOW THE CHURCH ALMOST KILLED THE MINISTRY OF HEALING
By Francis MacNutt
256 pp., Grand Rapids, MI: Chosen Books, 2005, $18.99, hardcover.
Review: MacNutt, a well-known former Catholic priest, charismatic teacher and founder of Christian Healing Ministries, Inc., has written an insightful and instructional book about healing. He believes that "Jesus came to bring us healing (and deliverance) on every level of our being-physical, emotional and spiritual-through the power of the Holy Spirit" (p. 11). MacNutt supports this belief by comprehensively reviewing in the Scriptures God's plan for creation and how Jesus came to redeem, restore and save us on all fronts. He explains God's original good creation, the fall of man and entry of evil and sickness into the world, and how Jesus restored our original inheritance from God.
MacNutt then offers a thorough overview of the history of healing ministry in the church from the time of the early Christian disciples to today. Using extensive references, he shows how healing and deliverance were an expected part of church life in the first centuries and were gradually elevated out of reach and almost lost. In essence, MacNutt says we lost our understanding of the Holy Spirit's power and charisms (spiritual gifts). Fires of renewal sprang up in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but healing prayer did not return on a widespread basis until the advent of the Pentecostal, charismatic movement in the twentieth century.
MacNutt offers a compelling rationale for the spiritual gift of healing, making a strong case that God wants this gift to be active today through the work of the Holy Spirit. I found it confusing that he developed the idea of the "baptism with the Holy Spirit" as a second experience that happens after salvation (ch. 7), but later explains this as a release of the Holy Spirit who is already present in the life of the Christian (Appendix). He writes, "For many of us, the Spirit had been there all the time but was somehow quenched or bottled. The baptism with the Spirit is a release of the Spirit" (p. 226). However, MacNutt offers excellent food for thought about healing and the work of the Holy Spirit in the Christian's life.-KSS
TRANSFORMING SHAME
A PASTORAL RESPONSE
By Jill L. McNish
256 pp., Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press, 2004, $19.95, paperback.
Review: McNish utilizes biblical and secular resources to write a compelling and comprehensive examination of the roots, psychological basis and human reaction to shame. McNish writes from personal insight gained from counseling, stating, "Virtually every depressed person I spoke with presented either directly or indirectly with issues that I came to identify as shame issues" (p. 1).
Unlike guilt, feelings of shame are not discussed. Shame is an "essential failure of trust of the goodness of oneself and others, and ultimately it is distrust in the goodness of God and life, distrust that we are the apple of God's eye, distrust that God is with us in the midst of suffering and adversity" (p. 36). McNish explains, "Simply put, one feels guilty for making a mistake. Shame is a felt sense of being a mistake. The reverse of shame is respectability" (p. 11).
McNish reminds the reader that shame has two differing sides. Healthy shame is an essential part of faith, conversion and acceptance of Jesus as Savior. Along with personal spiritual growth, healthy shame has boundaries and a need to conform and be part of the larger whole-God, creation, family and culture. Conversely, unhealthy shame "hijacks and distorts the entire personality, like a terrorist" (p. 203).
This book is not for the casual explorer. However, for nurses in any setting, understanding shame and the consequences of festering emotions can bring light to their patient's or their own journeys. Christian nurses, counselors and pastors working with clients with deep suffering will find an excellent study in shame. I appreciated McNish's discussion of well-known biblical characters such as Rahab, David and Peter. She provides an intriguing glimpse at the Middle Eastern culture of shame/honor, offering a helpful backdrop to news headlines from the Middle East. Finally, thoughtful examples are provided from American culture that can help readers clearly recognize patients, family members, and maybe themselves.-Nancy Andrews MSN, RNC, WHNP, Royal Oak, Michigan
VICTORY OVER THE DARKNESS SERIES
By Neil T. Anderson with other authors
264 pp., Ventura, CA: Regal, 2003-2004, $9.99, paperback.
Brief: Anderson has written a series of four books: Overcoming Negative Self-Image (with Dave Park, 2003), Overcoming Addictive Behavior (with Mike Quarles, 2003), Overcoming Depression (with Joanne Anderson, 2004) and Overcoming Doubt (2004). Using Scripture and biblical principles, the authors present a plan of hope and a plan of action for overcoming these painful problems. In each book, they show us how to identify the root cause of the problem, and instead of running away from it, run to God. Book chapters end with questions for readers to explore.
12 STEPS WITH JESUS
By Don Williams
165 pp., Ventura, CA: Regal, 2004, $11.00, paperback.
Brief: Using the well-known "12-Step" model, Williams guides the reader through 12 steps for finding freedom from fear and release from addictive thoughts and behaviors. These practical steps begin with discovering your story, moving through to understanding addiction to coming home with the Father God and learning to live fearlessly and freely with Jesus.
HEALING THE SCARS OF EMOTIONAL ABUSE
REVISED EDITION
By Gregory L. Jantz with Ann McMurray
221 pp., Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 2003, $12.99, paperback.
Brief: Jantz and McMurray help the reader understand emotional abuse- what it is, how it occurs through words, actions and neglect, and the effects of abuse physically, on relationships and on the sense of self. Practical strategies are given to identify abuse, deal with abusers and rebuild relationships, all within the context of a biblical plan for healing.
INTO THE ABYSS OF SUFFERING
A CATHOLIC VIEW
By Kenneth R. Overberg
144 pp., Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2003, $9.95, paperback.
Brief: Overberg offers a perspective that consoles and satisfies. Human suffering is viewed through the eyes of Jesus' suffering, and we are reassured that we are loved, even in and through our pain.
PARISH NURSING
HEALING BODIES AND SOULS
A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR CONGREGATIONS
By Daniel Hale and Harold Koenig
125 pp., Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003, $15.00, paperback.
Brief: Through the moving experiences and successful health ministry models of a number of congregations, Hale and Koenig show how religious institutions can play a leading role in providing exceptional health promotion, education and support for body, mind and spirit.
PARTNERS IN HEALING
BRINGING COMPASSION TO PEOPLE WITH ILLNESS OR LOSS
Beverly Anne Musgrave and John R. Bickle, editors
182pp., Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2003, $16.95, paperback.
Brief: This handbook is a helpful resource for health care workers, pastors and others who visit the sick, whether in hospitals or at home. Part one explores the nature of illness as a medical and spiritual condition. Part two considers the role of the compassionate visitor: the art of listening, confidentiality, sharing of oneself and specifics about medical conditions. Part three explores the creation and support of a volunteer visitor program.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
REFLECTIONS ON THE JOURNEY
By Kristene Carol Diggins
95 pp., Enumelaw, WA: Pleasant Word, 2004, $11.98, paperback.
Brief: Diggins, a frequent JCN author, shares personal reflections, most written from interactions with the people she serves as a missionary nurse in Brazil. Candor and compassion fill the pages. The book contains three sections: reflections in relationships, reflections in ministry and reflections in worship. See this issue of JCN, pages 34-36, for a sample of the author's style and insight.
THE MAKING OF THE NEW SPIRITUALITY
THE ECLIPSE OF THE WESTERN RELIGIOUS TRADITION
By James A. Herrick
331 pp., Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003, $13.00, paperback.
Brief: "The new spiritual outlook stands in sharp contrast to its predecessor, the Judeo-Christian worldview [horizontal ellipsis] So substantial has been the shaping influence of the New Religious Synthesis on contemporary religious thought that it has now replaced the Revealed Word as the religious framework of a large and growing number of Western people" (p. 15). Herrick draws attention to a number of artists and authors who have been instrumental in tearing down the Western world's old spiritual foundation and publicly building a new one in its place.
Not an easy read, but worthwhile reading.
LIFE'S BIG QUESTIONS
SIX MAJOR THEMES TRACED THROUGH THE BIBLE
By Vaughan Roberts
176 pp., Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2004, $16.00, paperback.
Brief: Roberts presents six big questions: Who rules the world? What does it mean to be human? How should we view money? Is a perfect relationship possible? How does the Holy Spirit work in the world and in our lives? What is God's plan for the world? Roberts helps readers know how to use the Bible as a life-map. Each chapter contains a summary and a Bible study for additional insight.