Hoping for more

By Deanna A. Thompson

Book Description

When a young religion professor receives a devastating stage IV cancer diagnosis, her carefully constructed understanding of faith suddenly crumbles. Deanna A. Thompson invites readers into the raw, unfiltered reality of confronting mortality while grappling with questions that have no easy answers.

This deeply personal narrative follows Thompson as she navigates the complex terrain where suffering meets spirituality. Rather than offering platitudes or miraculous healing stories, she presents an honest exploration of what happens when theological knowledge collides with lived experience. As a wife, mother, and educator facing an uncertain future, Thompson searches for authentic language to express a faith that feels increasingly fragile.

Written with remarkable candor and literary grace, this memoir ventures beyond conventional religious responses to crisis. Thompson examines the limitations of prayer, the complexities of church community, and even challenges traditional notions of afterlife belief. Her journey through treatment and uncertainty reveals how hope can persist even when stripped of its familiar foundations.

For readers seeking genuine spiritual reflection rather than inspirational clichés, Thompson offers a refreshing perspective on finding meaning amid chaos. Her story demonstrates that faith can evolve and deepen through struggle, and that grace often appears in unexpected forms when everything else falls away.

This is spiritual memoir at its most vulnerable and transformative.