In 2021, 1.8 million people will be diagnosed with cancer, and 600,000 will die of the disease in the United States alone. But what does it look like when cancer comes to live in your home, when you’re told that your life will become one of those statistics?
On this episode of Surprised by Grief, Christianity Today’s editor-in-chief Daniel Harrell and author Clarissa Moll talk about Daniel’s experience as caregiver for his wife Dawn as she walked her own short path with pancreatic cancer. They discuss how dying can instruct a community, what open conversation can do to support grieving people, and how the honor of caregiving becomes a last act of great love. Tune in for an poignant look at how grief loves before and after death. Our special guest, professor and author Deanna Thompson, shares her experience living with chronic cancer and her wisdom on how faith and despair can coexist in the life of a believer.
Deanna Thompson is the author of Glimpsing Resurrection: Cancer, Trauma and Ministry.
Surprised by Grief is a production of Christianity Today.
Produced by Mike Cosper
Written by Daniel Harrell and Clarissa Moll
Edited and mixed by Mark Owens
Music by The Porters Gate
