Category Archives: The Sufferer
God’s Depression Treatment
Treatment For Depression We’ve seen the kind of treatment people have devised in order to relieve the suffering of depression: medicine and counseling (see blog, October 28). Although we welcome the advances in medicine and in counseling to help people, … Continue reading
“Tragedy Transformed” Judges’ Comments
Last week, Tragedy Transformed: How Job’s Recovery Can Provide Hope For Yours made the Finals in the fourth annual Cascade Awards Writing Contest conducted by the Oregon Christian Writers. I felt honored to have my book judged high enough to … Continue reading
Responses to Tragedy II
Tragedy happens all around us. Last week a man gunned down four of our US Marines at two US Navy training centers in Chattanooga, TN. One sailor later died. Five families and military brothers (and sisters) mourn. In their honor, … Continue reading
Responses to Tragedy
No day goes by without TV, Internet, and Radio reporting tragedy. Not just one, but many. Over and over bad news so inundates us, that “news” takes on the definition = Bad News. As I write, one headline refers to … Continue reading
Chaos II
With our desire for control–even need for it, what do we do when confronted with circumstances over which we have no control? The sudden death of a loved one; the birth of a child who is handicapped; your unexpected diagnosis … Continue reading
Chaos
We are creatures of control. We like predictability, habit, and, if possible, certainty. Take medicine, for example. Here is one profession dedicated to enabling us to control our health, avoid disease, and extend life. Living with uncertainty, confusion, and chaos … Continue reading
Writing About Job I
Do you know how to write a book? If not, I want to share with you some of the steps I took to give birth to a new work of non-fiction. I trace the seed back to my graduate … Continue reading
When Friends Criticize
Eliphaz Job 15:4 (Jewish Publication Society text, 1980) When we suffer tragedy, our hearts break with helpless frustration along with our inconsolable grief. In Job’s speech of chapters 12 – 14, he scorns his three wisdom colleagues for treating him as … Continue reading
As Up-To-Date As Tomorrow’s Paper
Yesterday, September 11, I noticed more American flags flying that usual, some at half-staff. We want to remember the national tragedy we suffered thirteen years ago, from the hands of violent men. Scripture does not gloss over tragedy, personal, or national. … Continue reading
When God Attacks (Or Seems To)
Recently I visited a cousin in Maine. As she and her husband drove home, a foreign driver without insurance ran a double red flashing light just a few yards from their house. He demolished their car, rolling it over. My … Continue reading