No Cure for Being Human: (and Other Truths I Need to Hear)

After 28 years of being in a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury, I have seen so many gross misconceptions of healing and what it means to be a human with disabilities. Reading Kate Bowler‘s ‘No Cure For Being Human’ has been an inspirational and encouraging read as I sojourned through the journey she too has had through life’s sufferings. Stories that caused me to leap with excitement, weep with empathetic connectivity, laugh at human frailty, & light up with epiphany; I truly enjoyed reading her book.I certainly encourage anyone who is on their own path to finding a sense of healing & what it means to still be human, to read her fantastic reflections throughout this book.

Not many people are as clear-eyed in the face of suffering as Kate Bowler. She inhabits the "lumpy middle" between a past filled with busy optimism and a future that may not be coming at all, and she does it with an honesty that soothes even as it cuts. Somehow, she has brought many selves to this book--objective researcher, determined survivor, terrified patient and disarming comedian--without fragmentation or inconsistency. In her commitment to telling the truth as well as she understands it, she is indignant and grateful; frightened and bold; cynical and hopeful; doubtful and faithful. The result is a funny and fascinating book that is over much too soon, but that promises to stand up to many rereads. So long as you're looking for something more substantial than chicken soup, you can't go wrong. Oh, and don't skip the appendix. There's treasure in there.

I recommend this latest book by Kate Bowler as a follow-up to her previous book (“Everything Happens For A Reason - And Other Lies I’ve Loved”) … although this one can easily stand on its own. It is honest, poignant, thought-provoking, and begs the reader to reflect on his/her own experiences in life with her challenging insights. As was the case with Kate Bowler’s previous book, this one was difficult to put down.

With apologies to Monty Python’s “I’m not dead yet” I started this not sure what to expect, but intrigued by the invitation to ponder the blessings in trials, courage to fight, love, and hope. The startling observations in the midst of the personal struggle of cancer treatments that homeless moms fake it with luggage at an airport to have a safe space to sleep. The calculated coldness of clinical trials, and too often equally cold “bedside” manner of those running them. Hope, and then maybe not…and an old abandoned church with thousands of confessions, promises and prayers etched in the wood. Alone together, together alone…and my friend Michael Vaughn who didn’t survive his fight with cancer and the zoom meetings to celebrate his life…thank you Kate.

The vulnerability of the author is revealed through her experience "in real time" as she expresses her journey through stage-4 cancer treatments, philosophical questions on the meaning of life, and peace with not knowing the answers. While travelling, I passed this book along to a stranger I met who was on the same uncertain, experimental cancer treatment journey. God speed, Pat!