Linda,  Thanks for the excellent post!  I just read it and couldn't agree
more.  Hope you enjoy my  post as well, entitled, "In response to Sue's
question"

Bev Brown
Lincoln, NE

On Sat, 9 May 1998 09:41:13 -0400 [log in to unmask]
writes:
>     I'd like to agree with to Jeanette's recommendation for the
>book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." The author, Harold
>Kushner, wrote it in an attempt to come to terms with the
>lifelong illness and subsequent death of his 14 year old son, who
>suffered with progeria (rapid aging). Kushner is an American
>rabbi, but I think this book can be appreciated by people of all
>religions, and it has been translated into many languages.
>
>     It is Kushner's belief that there is really no acceptable
>answer to the question of why illness and tragedy strike certain
>people, but that God can neither cause nor prevent these
>occurrences. Instead he sees God as the source of the strength we
>need to go on living, in spite of these tragedies, and equally as
>important, as the source of compassion and caring that inspires
>us to reach out and help one another. I first read this book a
>number of years ago, but at that time didn't find it very
>meaningful in my life. However, I re-read it shortly after being
>diagnosed with PD, and found it gave me the strength to get
>through those first few weeks. There was nothing anyone (even
>those closest to me) could say that brought me as much comfort as
>this short book. I often go back and re-read it when I'm feeling
>depressed, and each time I come away with new strength and
>insights.
>
>     As I was writing this message, on a Saturday morning, the
>phone rang. It was my neuro, who I had been trying to reach all
>week with a question about my Requip dosage, but we kept on
>missing each other's calls. He said he was at the recent AAN
>convention, and called because he wanted to let me know about all
>the promising research on PD treatments reported on at the
>meetings, and that I must remain hopeful for the future. He said
>at the end of the convention, there was a summary session on the
>36 most important papers presented - ten of the 36 dealt with PD.
>(of course, I took this opportunity to ask for his support for
>Udall bill funding.)
>
>     Kushner says "...how does the man suffering from cancer, or
>the woman with Parkinson's disease, find the strength and sense
>of purpose to get up and face each new day...? The God I believe
>in does not send us the problem; He gives us the strength to cope
>with the problem... God, who neither causes nor prevents
>tragedies, helps by inspiring people to help. As a nineteenth-
>century Hasidic rabbi once put it, 'human beings are God's
>language.'"
>
>Linda Herman
>