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 PrintableVersion A window to heavenA WINDOW TO HEAVEN Although written by a doctor (and a Professor of Paediatric Oncology at Yale University, at that), this short book about children dying is accessible to all. The style is mainly anecdotal, illustrated by several beautiful vignettes of children who have been in her care. The central driving themes are of the love of God and the wisdom of children who die. Read slowly, it is a reflective book showing a child's beautiful intimacy and supreme confidence in God - not a book needing ponderous study but to wonder over and allow the deeper truths to sink in. The children are not stoics and the pain and tears recorded are (in part) experienced on reading, yet also mingled with joy and pride in a God who does care and provide. The author slowly found her own faith through her young patients: their suffering and God's intimate involvement with them. She seems to have been moved especially by those who also had Down's Syndrome and quotes The Clowns of God by Morris West: 'I gave this mite a gift I denied to all of you - eternal innocence. She will evoke the kindness that will keep you human.' She mentions several of their families too; their anguish and anger at God and their initial incomprehension of their dying child's peace and confidence in God. Many of these families were reunited and/or were able to discuss for the first time that the child had been unwanted or they had considered an abortion. She reviews Abraham and Sarah and the planned sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah, asking what it is that God calls us to give up - 'What is my Moriah?' Finally, throughout the text, she challenges the medical profession not to be emotionally distant, but to be involved, to develop a relationship with their patients and to seek to understand their fears and hopes. Dr. Peter A. Casson© Evangelicals Now - November 1997 |
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