Rachel Naomi Remen
Riverhead Books, New York City, 1996, 378 pp., $22.95
"It is actually difficult to edit life." With this comment, Rachel Naomi Remen makes it clear that in Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal she is not attempting to compile an edited collection that logically reflects life. Her purpose is to make readers live the stories she tells, whether they cry, laugh, or simply nod their heads at the real-life suffering and triumph they have felt in their own experience.
The book is organized into the sections of "Life Force," "Judgement," "Traps," "Freedom," "Opening the Heart," "Embracing Life," "Live and Help Live," "Knowing God," and finally "Mystery and Awe." Each of these spiritually focused themes is explored through the powerful short stories. The presentation encourages the reader to approach and reflect on the book one story at a time, making it ideal for the busy professional. Each story in its own way helps call to mind the meaning behind the events that incrementally shape our lives. Each one connects us with one another, and each connection links us back to the human community.
In the foreword to this book, Dean Ornish captures Remen's main theme, that "life is not broken and does not need to be fixed; it needs to be savored and celebrated." As physician, philosopher, woman, and patient, the author teaches that life itself heals, that living is a blessing, and that each experience — however inexplicable, painful, or even hilarious — is woven into the tapestry of our lives. Remen indeed shows that telling stories can be a healing experience and that listening to them can be a unique source of healing as well.
Remen views life from many perspectives in her stories as she assumes the role of spiritual teacher. She takes a counselor's point of view, then that of an accomplished, well-trained physician. We learn much about the spirit and healing as we see life through the eyes of a patient with Crohn's disease, a chronic and often painful illness. Her varied viewpoints help us learn what makes us similar and what connects us.
This book can be appreciated by a wide audience, but it should be "must reading" for healthcare providers and others whose work involves them in the most significant events people face in life. Remen's stories will reconnect them to the human beings they serve. The book also will humble and inspire them in today's world, where both humility and inspiration are in short supply.
Reviewed by Sr. Joanne Schuster, PhD, President, Franciscan Sisters, of the Poor Foundation, New York City