Holy Vulnerability: A Spiritual Path for Those with Cancer [Paperback]

Donna Schaper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2005

Eight dimensions of a spiritual path for those with cancer: Dealing with Mortality Accepting personal responsibility Managing pain Relying on family and community Practicing compassion Relishing the serendipitous Living with holy vulnerability Practicing the presence of God

Rev. Donna Schaper has developed what she calls a "spiritual path" specifically for those with cancer. Blunt, practical and down-to-earth, yet still hopeful, compassionate and faith-filled, Holy Vulnerability is unique among cancer-survivor books in its insistence on facing the reality of cancer head-on and finding in it a series of unexpected blessings.

Product Details

• Paperback: 92 pages
• Publisher: ACTA Publications (July 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879462914
• ISBN-13: 978-0879462918
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,941,951 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Donna Schaper is currently Senior Minister of the historic Judson Memorial Church in New York City. Dr. Schaper describes the church as "a gathering place for people who seek spiritual nurture to build public capacity for social change." Among her current projects at Judson are developing an "underground economy" (a safe place for real people in hard times) and building a public ministry training program for future church leaders.

Schaper is the author of numerous books, including When a Parent Dies, Sacred Chow: Some Holy Ways to Eat, and The Art of Spiritual Rock Gardening. Her articles, opinions, blog posts, and essays appear regularly in a diverse mix of media, such as The Huffington Post and The New York Times.

To learn more, visit www.judson.org or www.donnaschaper.org.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Coming to Terms with Cancer, July 20, 2005

By 

Carol Blank (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Holy Vulnerability: A Spiritual Path for Those with Cancer (Paperback)

In her capacity as a pastor, Schaper is knowledgeable about spirituality in all circumstances, but it is her role of breast cancer survivor that inspired this book that melds the practical with the philosophical. She addresses her topic in short chapters based on what she terms the dimensions of a spiritual path for those with cancer. Each chapter includes three exercises that call for reflection and action. Not surprisingly, Schaper returns frequently to the question of control, the desire for it and the impossibility of exercising it as a cancer patient. Control, she writes, "insists on determining reality." Her alternative, compassion, "lets reality have its own free will." In the accompanying exercise, Sharper suggests finding someone in need of compassion, as you yourself are, figuring out a simple act to offer that person, and carrying it out, perhaps anonymously.

Other unique aspects of this work include discussions about telling others, particularly children, about your disease, managing pain, and dealing with mortality. The book concludes with twenty prayers for those with cancer, with titles ranging from Prayer during Radiation to Prayer to Lighten Anger, and an extensive bibliography for those with cancer