|
From Medicine to MiracleA greater miracleFROM MEDICINE TO MIRACLE Dr. Self's story is really one of two journeys; her struggle with cancer and its recurrence in her body, and her religious awareness, which culminates in her relationship with Jesus Christ. She writes with her co-author in a very frank and refreshing manner, making the book sensitive, funny, sad and quite compulsive reading. You may need a box of tissues handy as the story unfolds of a young woman, barely into adulthood, having to cope with terrible illness, which results in the amputation of her leg, the pain and side effects of ensuing treatment and the uncertainty of any future. With amazing fortitude she finishes her education, qualifies as a doctor, marries and has children. Later the cancer returns twice and she eventually has to prepare for death, knowing that she will never see her children grow up. God intervenes in a remarkable way, baffling medical science and today she is living testimony to the efficacy of Christian, believing prayer and the power of an almighty creator, who is able to heal. Mary Self has returned to practise medicine and raise her family, knowing that God performed a miracle of healing in her life. When asked if I would recommend this book to a non-Christian friend with cancer, I was very hesitant. It is a little too easy to get the feeling that Christians should always expect to be healed, especially if awful illness strikes when we are young. However, a Christian in those circumstances could gain much help from the strategies Mary Self used when her death seemed imminent, particularly with respect to her supporting friends 'The Merry Men'. At the end of the book Dr. Self acknowledges that the reason she is still alive is because of what God has done. I think I just wanted her to underline the fact of the far greater miracle that every Christian has experienced, that of being given eternal life. Mary Stolarski, Southport© Evangelicals Now - February 2003 |