Why, God?: Suffering Through Cancer into Faith

by Margaret Cupit-Link, Edward Hugh Henderson, David Hein (Foreword)

A nineteen-year-old chemistry major at Rhodes College is selected to spend the summer after her freshman year doing research at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Instead, she finds herself a patient there, fighting a life-threatening form of pediatric cancer and suffering through a year of aggressive chemotherapy and surgery. Refusing to believe what many tell her--that the cancer was all part of "God's plan"--she finds solace in journaling and begins a discussion with her grandfather, a university professor specializing in philosophy of religion. Through her experiences and writing about them, the student discovers that she may be a person of faith after all--just not in the way she expected. Her grandfather has selected and arranged the journal entries and their faith conversation and has commented on them in order to bring out the spiritual dimensions of her experience. He learns from his granddaughter that faith comes more through experience than through ideas. The coauthors hope the book will help other sufferers recognize the presence of a loving God in the midst of pain, uncertainty and death.

174 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 2, 2015

About the author

Maggie grew up in Mississippi and attending Rhodes College and Mayo Clinic Medical School. She is a now pediatric physician living with her husband in St. Louis. She will be beginning her specialty training in pediatric hematology/oncology this year. She is a survivor of both anorexia and childhood cancer. In addition to various scientific publications, she is the author of "Why, God? Suffering Through Cancer into Faith" (2015).

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of a young women's journey with cancer

I loved the parts of the book that dealt with her diagnosis and treatment at St. Judes the best; the parts about religion and philosophy not as much. Maggie describes her journey in raw, honest language. Sometimes the chronology of events was confusing to follow. With a healthcare background, I truly appreciate reading about the workings of such a reputable hospital from an insider's perspective - the patient's. Overall, a very interesting and heartwarming story.