Seeds 44 Peers 23

A theology teacher and a young mother diagnosed with stage IV cancer learn the pain and joy of living without security.
Thirty-five-year-old Kate Bowler was a teacher at Duke Divinity School, and after years of trying to give birth to a child with a childhood lover, began to feel stomach pain. He lost thirty pounds, chewed an antifid, and visited the doctor for three months before being diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.
When she reviewed the results of her diagnosis, Kate drew the reader deep into her life, filled with a colorful collection of friends, pastors, parents, and doctors, often pleasant, and sharing laser sharp musings on faith, friendship, love and death. He wondered why suffering made him feel like a loser and explored the burden of positivity. As she tries to enjoy her time with her son and husband, she realizes that she needs to change her habit of jumping to the end and planning the next step. The “Gospel of American Prosperity” historian – the great belief of the church that promises healing of the tragedy for believers if they want it hard enough – Bowler notes that he wants “the same certainty of scandal after being diagnosed.” “Want to know why it’s so difficult to let go of what you don’t control. He struggles with the frightening fact that even for a husband and child is not a pillar of existence, and even without that, life goes on.
On the site, Kate Bowler is warm, witty and cruel and, like Paul Kalanithi, is one of the few talented and courageous individuals who can express the sadness she felt as she pondered her own death.



