Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved

By: Kate Bowler

Libby audiobook 5 hours

Read by the author

Published:  2018

Genre: memoir 

 

This was a very interesting book. I mostly got it because it was an available audiobook with some intriguing themes. From the official blurb: "Kate Bowler is a professor at Duke Divinity School with a modest Christian upbringing, but she specializes in the study of the prosperity gospel, a creed that sees fortune as a blessing from God and misfortune as a mark of God’s disapproval. At thirty-five, everything in her life seems to point toward “blessing.” She is thriving in her job, married to her high school sweetheart, and loves life with her newborn son.

Then she is diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer."

 

I confess that as I was "reading" / listening to the book, I stopped to do a Google search to see if she was alive or dead. That question confirmed, I continued on to hear her perspective. My notes are random, since I was mostly listening while driving.

 

". . . the tyranny of prescriptive joy . . . " made me think of a phrase I've heard about relentless optimism. I'm not sure what the actual phrase is - aggressive optimism? The idea that someone with "positive thoughts" can actually be discouraging to someone in a bad place (mentally, physically, spiritually, etc.) is an important one. I'm trying to be more compassionate, a better listener, but I know that I sometimes miss the mark. 

 

Her litany of how people react to and give advice on her news of colon cancer - ouch! I almost wanted to re-read that section to see how NOT to try to express concern or sympathy! I definitely say things without thinking at times . . . 

 

The idea that a woman's medical concerns are not being taken seriously just makes me so angry! She was given Pepto-Bismol for months when she complained of intense, months-long stomach pain. She had stage IV colon cancer and was given pink crap to drink!

 

There were so many interesting parts of this book that I didn't make notes about. The fact that she had written her thesis (which became her first book) on prosperity preaching . . . and how those people reacted to her cancer . . . very interesting.