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Being Well When We're Ill: Wholeness and Hope in Spite of Infirmity
Marva Dawn has an insider's view of the many spiritual, intellectual, emotional, social, and physical difficulties encountered by people with chronic illness and disabilities. She knows from experience how to nurture wholeness and hope in spite of infirmity.
Filled with insight and practical help, each chapter of Being Well when We're Ill focuses on one particular kind of struggle such as worry, guilt, the loss of meaning, or the loss of confidence and trust that God is present and personally loving. Each chapter details one or more appropriate 'finds' - spiritual resources, emotional supports, intellectual answers, or practical solutions - that enable a person with infirmities to persevere through them and to be well in spite of them.
For each issue she explores, such as loss of dreams, loneliness, physical pain, depression, ingratitude, side effects and more, Dawn includes discussions of biblical texts - not only texts that help lament losses but texts that bring wholeness. Readers will find themselves companioned in their sufferings and encouraged with new ways to surmount them.
Filled with insight and practical help, each chapter of Being Well when We're Ill focuses on one particular kind of struggle such as worry, guilt, the loss of meaning, or the loss of confidence and trust that God is present and personally loving. Each chapter details one or more appropriate 'finds' - spiritual resources, emotional supports, intellectual answers, or practical solutions - that enable a person with infirmities to persevere through them and to be well in spite of them.
For each issue she explores, such as loss of dreams, loneliness, physical pain, depression, ingratitude, side effects and more, Dawn includes discussions of biblical texts - not only texts that help lament losses but texts that bring wholeness. Readers will find themselves companioned in their sufferings and encouraged with new ways to surmount them.
284 pages, Paperback
First published October 7, 1999
28 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
Marva J. Dawn
38 books50 followersMarva J. Dawn is an American Christian theologian, author, musician and educator, associated with the parachurch organization "Christians Equipped for Ministry" in Vancouver, Washington. She also serves as Teaching Fellow in Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dawn is generally perceived as a Lutheran evangelical.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 13, 2016
This is one of the more complete books on suffering that I've read, and pertains directly to dealing with chronic suffering. The book is thoroughly Biblical and steeped in Scripture. And although I disagree with much of her theology (I'm Reformed, she's Arminian or something along those lines, but does quote some reformers like Luther), most of that is secondary. She repeats some terms like Trinitarian God and meta-narrative ad nauseum, but that's also a minor issue.
Marva Dawn is someone who suffers from multiple chronic conditions herself, so she speaks from experience and this is part of why the book is thorough. She offers words of comfort, encouragement and sympathy but doesn't go too far. She writes equally about physical and psychological suffering but obviously from an orthodox Christian perspective. Despite a few catch phrases that I don't like (going along with some of the theology I disagree with), Dawn knows her Scripture and it's evident that she is good with using it in context and interpreting it well while applying it to the situation of a sufferer.
I would recommend this very complete, encouraging, educational and Scriptural book to anyone who is suffering, wants to understand those who do, or anyone who just wrestles with the subject.
A couple of quotes:
"One of my biggest problems in dealing with the breakdown of my body is that I keep looking in the wrong direction. I look to the past and the capabilities I once had, instead of looking to the future and what I will someday become in the presence and by the grace of God. Perhaps that is the strongest temptation for you too. Our culture reinforces that mistake by its refusal to talk about heaven, as if it were an old-fashioned and outdated notion. We also intensify the problem by craving present health (as limited as it can be) more than we desire God.
A friend once said to me. “This is so hard getting old—there are so many things we can‘t do any more. I guess the Lord wants to teach us something.” Indeed, our bodies will never be what they previously were, and we find that difficult because we miss our former activities. But God wants to teach us to hunger for Him, our greatest treasure. Instead of rejecting the notion of heaven, we genuinely ache in our deepest self to fill that concept with a larger landscape of the Joy of basking in God‘s presence."
pg 231
"On feeling guilty about lack of ‘productivity’:
In a time of infirmity, the illness IS one’s work. Taking care of all the disciplines that our health problems require IS the other part of the small daily fidelity to which we are called, beside the faithfulness of being attentive to God. We can be well simply by our diligence in being who we are at the moment."
pg 137
Jeff
Marva Dawn is someone who suffers from multiple chronic conditions herself, so she speaks from experience and this is part of why the book is thorough. She offers words of comfort, encouragement and sympathy but doesn't go too far. She writes equally about physical and psychological suffering but obviously from an orthodox Christian perspective. Despite a few catch phrases that I don't like (going along with some of the theology I disagree with), Dawn knows her Scripture and it's evident that she is good with using it in context and interpreting it well while applying it to the situation of a sufferer.
I would recommend this very complete, encouraging, educational and Scriptural book to anyone who is suffering, wants to understand those who do, or anyone who just wrestles with the subject.
A couple of quotes:
"One of my biggest problems in dealing with the breakdown of my body is that I keep looking in the wrong direction. I look to the past and the capabilities I once had, instead of looking to the future and what I will someday become in the presence and by the grace of God. Perhaps that is the strongest temptation for you too. Our culture reinforces that mistake by its refusal to talk about heaven, as if it were an old-fashioned and outdated notion. We also intensify the problem by craving present health (as limited as it can be) more than we desire God.
A friend once said to me. “This is so hard getting old—there are so many things we can‘t do any more. I guess the Lord wants to teach us something.” Indeed, our bodies will never be what they previously were, and we find that difficult because we miss our former activities. But God wants to teach us to hunger for Him, our greatest treasure. Instead of rejecting the notion of heaven, we genuinely ache in our deepest self to fill that concept with a larger landscape of the Joy of basking in God‘s presence."
pg 231
"On feeling guilty about lack of ‘productivity’:
In a time of infirmity, the illness IS one’s work. Taking care of all the disciplines that our health problems require IS the other part of the small daily fidelity to which we are called, beside the faithfulness of being attentive to God. We can be well simply by our diligence in being who we are at the moment."
pg 137
Jeff
April 16, 2023
A surprisingly disarming series of meditations on health, sickness, and God's provision in pain. The author has suffered an almost unbelievable number of health complications, yet her trust in God and her dogged persistence to learn from Scripture and tradition about how to trust would put most of our whinings to shame. The chapter about being unproductive was particularly gutting for me.
April 17, 2024
Such wisdom not only for the ill but for anyone…this book is like a balm for the soul.
February 25, 2018
I am coming back to my Good Reads account having been gone for almost 4 years. this book by Marva Dawn was marked as currently reading from December 2014. I have read this book twice since then and just picked it up to refresh for a review and I fell in love again with the way God speaks through Marva. She knows pain, she knows how God pulls people through dark periods to light. She knows how to have JOY and give thanks while glorying in suffering. All of this comes from a place of true love for her reader. I have experienced so many different types of pain and brokenness and there isn't a single one that she hasn't spoken God's love and Light into. I think I will always be "currently reading" this book and recommend it to anyone struggling to see the light of hope through the trials of infirmity.
March 17, 2021
This is a really beautiful collection of reflections on physical suffering, a subject that the author has had ample opportunity to consider. The ailments, disabilities, surgeries, and their complications that Marva Dawn has suffered are staggering. Reading this actually reminded me of the Book of Job in some places.
Dawn uses stories, quotes, hymns and poetry from biblical authors and Christians throughout the centuries to "put flesh" onto her theological convictions. The cumulative effect is both encouraging and challenging as readers consider how to integrate these ideas into our own experiences of suffering.
Dawn uses stories, quotes, hymns and poetry from biblical authors and Christians throughout the centuries to "put flesh" onto her theological convictions. The cumulative effect is both encouraging and challenging as readers consider how to integrate these ideas into our own experiences of suffering.
July 2, 2021
I started this book (checks date) nearly 2 years ago. When I picked it up again recently, I started from the beginning.
This is an excellent comfort for those of us who are disabled and chronically ill: we can still be well in Christ and draw ever closer to his Spirit. Suffering is not an end to hope, nor even despair. I was tremendously encouraged by Marva J. Dawn (who is still living, bless her; I checked) as she wrote about her own struggles and gave practical ways to continue to move towards wellness even as our bodies fail. I am indepted to my friend who recommended this book.
This is an excellent comfort for those of us who are disabled and chronically ill: we can still be well in Christ and draw ever closer to his Spirit. Suffering is not an end to hope, nor even despair. I was tremendously encouraged by Marva J. Dawn (who is still living, bless her; I checked) as she wrote about her own struggles and gave practical ways to continue to move towards wellness even as our bodies fail. I am indepted to my friend who recommended this book.
March 11, 2020
Really powerful and book on suffering and the loses and gains in light of the gospel. Focused on those with chronic illnesses but easy to find application for anyone living in this broken world. Worth a re-read.
June 7, 2010
If readers are Spiritual and have already been applying God’s word in their lives concerning battling chronic pain issues they might not initially feel this book will introduce anything transformative in regards to creating spiritual tools for themselves when coping. I however, while keeping my mind open to possible refreshing, found the comfort and life experience the Author offered her readers to be poignant. I was saddened to read of the many ways this Author had suffered in her own life with chronic issues and debilitations for well over 25 years, but I did not feel a sense of tragedy or need to pity her because she had such a positive trust that her life was larger than the illnesses. I connected with her desire to give God glory despite her trials and for wanting to stay well by trusting Him through them. She releases the reader from the “why me” syndrome and instead reminds them to take on a “because it’s me I will” attitude. I like her emphasis on staying well mentally as a complement to feeling blessed spiritually. She feels no need to bombard the reader with notions that you aren’t being Spiritual or Faithful if you have off days and she doesn’t suggest that you live life on hold while you await for a day of healing. She’s actually brave enough to admit that for some of us that won’t necessarily happen in this life, but she's careful in giving this suggestion. It's not made to discourage or to dash hope or create doubt but to remind us to stay strong mentally here now in this hour, for this day is they day we are given. She encourages and inspires her listening audience to accept themselves regardless of their tomorrow and taps into real, raw emotions along the journey. Overall, not a bad read for reflection and self-challenge purposes. It had excellent use and placement of Biblical references which added to the body mind correlations and for building trust in God’s plan for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2011
Even though I am not struggling with any chronic illnesses, I really appreciated Marva's insights. She has been through a lot of health struggles (several decades) and while some of her problems might go away, many of them will plague her for the rest of her life. In the midst of those problems Marva can still testify to God's goodness and that there can still be wholeness and hope.
I especially appreciated Marva's chapters on unproductivity and forgiveness. She is a highly educated and busy writer and educator but treating her many conditions takes up a lot of time and interferes with activites she would like to be doing. It's an excellent chapter on learning to accept our limitations and remembering that our worth does not come from how much we get done. Her chapter on forgivness is another telling of the gospel, which I need to hear over and over again.
I especially appreciated Marva's chapters on unproductivity and forgiveness. She is a highly educated and busy writer and educator but treating her many conditions takes up a lot of time and interferes with activites she would like to be doing. It's an excellent chapter on learning to accept our limitations and remembering that our worth does not come from how much we get done. Her chapter on forgivness is another telling of the gospel, which I need to hear over and over again.
never-finished
November 10, 2012I seem to have a lot of trouble with books on suffering.... they seem to much more concentrated on asking self-absorbed questions than I naturally ask when troubled, and in doing so, start making me feel a lot more sulky than I was before.... So I almost always end up abandoning them since they seem to make me a worse person.
February 28, 2010
Great book on both the losses and the blessings of chronic/ serious illness. I felt like it could have been edited a bit more as it felt somewhat repetitive at times, but so helpful and so important.
March 5, 2010
Great premise, but the vocabulary was a little hard to reach. Church language that I didn't understand, but the ideas behind them were wonderful!
March 2, 2014
Amazing, amazing. Loved this book and will return to it in the future. Solid theological and compassionate response to those in chronic pain, and for those who are caregivers.
February 3, 2016
Wonderful book. Everyone should read, even if you're perfectly healthy.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews