Finding, Telling and Living Your Story

Come and hear, all you who fear God;

    let me tell you what he has done for me.

Psalm 66:16 (NIV)

I just finished a challenging book, Humbler Faith, Bigger God, by Sam Wells.  One of the  structural components of the book is found in the subtitle, Finding a Story to Live By.  This focus allows the author to begin a series of conversations about the lived realities of our lives together

Sam Wells addresses the hard questions of faith, truth, suffering and the church offering “rival” narratives.  He skillfully tells the stories and the experiences of searching, faith and doubt that have been part of our faith journeys,  His challenge to the reader is to find, tell and live a better story.  This book is a kind of story pilgrimage where your story can meet a larger story.

I was most interested in his understanding of suffering.  He draws attention to the difference between and the implications of a God who is “for”us and one who is “with” us. This idea resonated with my understanding of our medical responses to suffering.  We certainly want to mitigate suffering but most important is that we “stand with” the patient in the face of suffering.

I would recommend this book to any who are confronted with faith questions and are searching for a  story to live by.

Marvin

References 

Wells, S. (2022). Humbler Faith, Bigger God. Canterbury Press.

Elie, P. (2004). The Life You Save May Be Your Own: An American Pilgrimage (First Edition ed.). Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Hage, M. L. (2010). Pray with Africa

http://mhage1943.blogspot.com/2010/12/pray-with-africa.html

Hage, M. L. (2015). Telling the Story.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2015/01/telling-story.html

Hage, M. L. (2019). Suffering Revisited.

http://healingagents.blogspot.com/2019/10/suffering-revisited.html

"Latin Yankee"

Pope Leo XIV

Announcement - 5/8/2025

There is an important part of medical history that was driven by religious organizations.. My early professional career began in Catholic hospitals. Their goals of care resonated with medical professional mission statements.  The announcement of the first American-Latin Pope, Leo XIV got my attention, specifically in relationship to health care.  More generally, I wanted to understand his Augustinian perspective.

I was reminded of my introduction to the culture of caring at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.(1974-1984).  I joined an educational residency that was being asked many hard questions as reported by Paul Starr in his book, The Social Transformation of American Medicine.(1982)   Later in my career(2010), I had the opportunity to again provide medical care in Catholic hospital systems.  These experiences were part of my understanding of the intimate relationship between religious and healthcare institutions.  

What I found was that St. Augustine had a profound religious effect both in the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant religious traditions. The order that took his name and ethics has a worldwide presence and impact. The Augustinians and Pope Leo XiV will promote public health and outreach to the marginalized.

There is more to learn about the impact of the leadership of this “Latin Yankee” as a healing agent in the world.  There are and will be many “hard questions” that will shape healthcare at the intersection faith and the healing professions.

Marvin

References

Long Drives and Short Homilies: How Father Bob Became Pope Leo

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/17/world/europe/robert-prevost-pope-leo-xiv.html?unlocked_article_code=1.H08.dOHJ.a9cy3CB0XfNT&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Providing care in the New World: the Augustinian sisters of Canada, women of heart and commitment

https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/providing-care-new-world-augustinian-sisters-canada-women-heart-and-commitment

Category:Catholic hospital networks in the United States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Catholic_hospital_networks_in_the_United_States

Catholic Health Care in the United States

https://www.chausa.org/news-and-publications/facts-and-statistics

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph_Mercy_Health_System#:~:text=4 References-,Foundation,when the Sisters opened St.

Starr, P. (1982). The Social Transformation of American Medicine. Basic Books

Epstein S; Timmermans S  From Medicine to Health: The Proliferation and Diversification of Cultural Authority.  Journal of Health & Social Behavior. 62(3):240-254, 2021 09. VI 1