In The Pink and Out of the Blue

I've been using this book for a few months now as a devotional prior to going onto the wards of the Ulster Hospital as chaplain, ever since a number of them appeared there as a resource to share with those  wrestling with cancer. Its authors have experienced cancer themselves directly and within their families, and have a long pedigree of working within the sphere of prayer for healing, and this book finds its origin in a frustration that there was little written from an explicitly Christian perspective as they faced cancer. The title, tone and even the physical form of the book marks it out as being aimed primarily at women, but there is plenty in here that is useful for anyone going through the whole testing-diagnosis-treatment continuum of care, and those accompanying them on that journey, be it as chaplain, pastor, family member or friend. That is especially true of some of the prayers at the end of the book. The folksy "thought for the day" style will not appeal to everyone, but the bite-sized chunks may be as much as those in the midst of dealing with this disease can deal with, and the authenticity of something written from the patient's perspective is very helpful. It has become not only a welcome addition to my shelf of resources as a chaplain and pastor, but I have also given and recommended it to people I thought it might help... both patients and family members. It has also sparked off some thinking in me, prompting more than a couple of blogs (including at least one more to come.)

However, I return again to the feminine tone of the publication. Just as the authors expressed their frustration at the lack of explicitly Christian support for those facing cancer, I repeatedly hear similar frustration expressed regarding the lack of explicitly male-orientated  cancer support and fund-raising... Testicular cancer and other male-gender specific cancers do not get the same attention as breast and overian cancers... There may be many and complex reasons for that, and things are changing, with, for example, the Mo-vember campaign etc. But there may well be a "market" out there for a similar type of publication specifically for men... "Out of the Blue" perhaps?

Shalom