I was drawn to this book because it looks at faith and healing from Christian and Jewish perspectives as an outgrowth of an active ministry of healthcare in Memphis, which is a very beloved place to me. This 1996 book features, pastors, priests and rabbis from throughout Memphis reflecting on God's place in illness and healing. The Church Health Center remains an active ministry in Midtown Memphis sixteen years after the publication of this book.

http://www.churchhealthcenter.org/

Amazon Editorial Review

In a world filled with guns, death, cancer, gangs, crack babies and AIDS - there are still powerful beacons of light, If you are struggling to understand and integrate the end-less despair that afflicts this modern world, you will find hope, joy and comfort in the words of this book. Conceived and assembled by Scott Morris, family physician and United Methodist minister, this first-time collection of sermons on the subject of healing contains the thoughts and beliefs of a diverse group of clergy living in Memphis, Tennessee. Their words range from a simple reminder of the power of prayer to a profound appreciation of the miracle of life, helping us to embrace and accept all that life has to offer. Hope And Healing will renew your faith in the ability of the body, the spirit and society as a whole not only to survive - but to thrive. ...ABOUT AUTHOR: Scott Morris, M.D., M.Div, is founder and executive director of the Church Health Center, a not-for-profit, health-care ministry that provides primary health care for the working poor and homeless in Memphis. He is also a pastor at St. John's United Methodist Church.

Megi153 and I share an interest in issues of the homeless. This book certainly goes there. I'm clearing out books and sending this one along. It comes from my mother's bookshelf. She was a native Memphian and I acquired this book for her. She read a few of the homilies but we didn't discuss them. She was a Southern lady and did not believe in discussing ailments, though her life was swallowed by them by the time she got this book. I know she did read privately of the spirituality of healing. With many afflictions, she was granted many healings.

What a nice surprise!

I was looking for something special to read during the Christmas season. This will be it!

I finished this a couple of days ago, and found it uneven, as most books consisting of selections by different authors tend to be - but that's part of what makes collections such fun to read.

I googled the authors of my favorite pieces (described below), and except for the illustrious Benjamin Hooks, they're all still living and writing, so I can continue to read their insights.

Cheryl Cornish recounted a joyful story of harvest day in (what she'd planned to be) a commercial flower garden.

Micah Greenstein's descriptions of Judaism impressed me so much I want to quote them here so I can always refer to them:

"a binding and sacred agreement between God and the Jewish people to take care of God's world and each other"

"a treasure-chest of learning and scholarship, a library of wisdom, literature, history, art, music, and philosophy"

"our tradition's inherent optimism"

Kenneth Twigg Whalum presented a sermon about his "rigorous political campaign" for city council that was laced with a wonderful wry humor.

David A. Hall chose scripture that didn't appear in anyone else's sermon: II Kings 4:1-7. The verses were about Elisha and a prophet's widow who was being threatened by creditors; and Hall expanded them into a suspenseful story.

Thanks so much for sending me this book nearly three years ago!