Here is My Hope: A Book of Healing and Prayer: Inspirational Stories of Johns Hopkins Hospital - Hardcover

Henderson, Randi; Marek, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385500327 ISBN 13: 9780385500326

Publisher: Doubleday, 2001

Synopsis

The link between faith and medicine comes to life in a collection of true stories about ordinary people.

For ten consecutive years, the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore has been named the country's number one medical facility in U.S. News & World Report's annual rankings. It is another tradition, however, that inspired Here Is My Hope. In the center of the hospital's rotunda is a magnificent statue of Christ. Over the years, the statue has become a spiritual beacon for people of different religions and ethnic backgrounds. Every year, thousands of prayers written by patients, their families, doctors, nurses, and clergy are left at the marble figure.

Here Is My Hope tells the stories behind some of those prayers; stories of faith and medicine working together in the healing process. A collection that expresses the real feelings of real people facing real problems, it includes stories of courage, of thanks, and of loss. It does not promise miracles, but its message of hope and consolation will be a source of strength and inspiration for people everywhere whose lives are touched by illness, whether they are ill themselves or trying to cope with the illness of someone they love.

About this title

Review:

Baltimore Sun writer Randi Henderson teamed up with author Richard Marek to offer Here Is My Hope, an outstanding collection of true stories of healing and faith based on the patients of Johns Hopkins Hospital. The writers focus their stories around the 10-foot statue of Christ in the main rotunda of the hospital. With its reassuring eyes and outstretched arms, the statue seems to exude the compassion that the ill and their loved ones yearn for when they enter the unknown territory of a hospital. Rather than being a religious icon, though, it has served to represent a place for people of all faiths and backgrounds to lay their hopes and prayers for healing.

In the first chapter we meet Grayson Gilbert, a 6-year-old boy diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a usually fatal disease. With grace and eloquence, the authors tell of Grayson's unusual lethargy that led to the discovery of a cancerous mass in his abdomen and a rushed admission into Johns Hopkins. While he was hospitalized he befriended some of the small children in his ward. Still uncertain of his recovery, he left this note beside the statue, "Dear Jesus, This is Grayson. If you could just heal the other kids, please. Thank you very much." Ultimately Grayson did survive, as do many others who leave their hopes at the feet of this benefactor. Even with all the impressive scientific research that's been recently published on the link between faith and healing, this collection of stories stands as one of the most exquisite and convincing testaments. --Gail Hudson

About the Author:

Randi Henderson, a freelance medical writer, was a feature writer for the Baltimore Sun for twenty years.

Richard Marek is the author of the novel Works of Genius and has worked as a ghostwriter, an editor, and a publisher.

About this edition

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0385500327
• ISBN 13: 9780385500326
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256