Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain and Illness

Meditations for daily walk of faith with chronic illness

In Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain and Illness, Maureen Pratt provides intimate insightful glimpses into her personal journey with chronic illness. Each short vignette gives insight focused on a Bible verse, then provides a brief essay, story or conversation, and ends in a short prayer. The wealth of random topics addressed is unified solely by the structured format of each entry. Peace in the Storm is definitely not a book readers will to sit down and read from cover to cover in one sitting, due to the seemingly random topics in each short section. However, it is very well-suited for use as a daily inspirational coach or guide. This book does not attempt to proselytize, but it is not likely to appeal to some readers. Those who embrace non-belief based ideologies such as atheism, or even those who strongly favor eastern metaphysical ideas may not find this book useful, due to its strong Christian assumptions and conversation. Pratt clearly expresses traditional Judeo-Christian religious concepts and philosophy in her writing. Therefore, her thoughts are likely to ring true and inspiring to those readers who are comfortable with its religious rhetoric. This book could be described as an extended dialog between people of faith, explaining and demonstrating how exercising that faith can help enrich the life of a patient with chronic illness. Ms. Pratt encourages the reader by discussing her own experiences and observations. She explains her coping methods for facing the challenges of having chronic systemic lupus, and demonstrates how expressing and applying personal devotion to God, meditation and prayer have improved her quality of life as a patient. She provides a wealth of short snapshots of her own daily life with Lupus, and conveys positive personal thoughts and heartfelt prayers that are part of her illness experience. She attempts to teach the reader, by numerous examples and explanations, how to apply their faith while trying to cope with the challenges common to patients living with chronic illness. This is definitely worth reading for those who like Ms. Pratt¿s casual and thoughtful conversational style and faith-centered dialog. It lends itself to musing and digesting the small morsels over several weeks or months. Readers can find valuable daily inspiration and encouragement while leisurely reading through Peace in the Storm. It provides good food for thought and lifts a patient¿s outlook on Lupus.

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