By Jason D Whitt This essay argues that an account of vocation that ties one’s work with divine calling stands counter to the biblical witness of calling in the New Testament. Rather than calling to a particular profession, the biblical account of calling is to a unique way of living that is to exemplify the […]
Vocation
Beauty for Ashes
Daisey Dowell, MD, a physician at Lawndale Christian Health Center shares her incredible testimony, highlighting the faithful presence of God leading her into medicine.
The Practice of the Presence of God
Brother Lawrence. This short book contains the musings of Brother Lawrence, a 17th century Carmelite monk in France. Throughout the book, he urges his readers to pray continually and remain in constant fellowship with God in the chaotic and the mundane. He expresses the wonderful sense of peace and joy he finds in his work […]
Margin
Richard A. Swenson Physician-writer Swenson provides a prescription against the danger of overloaded lives. Focusing on margin in four key areas – emotional energy, physical energy, time, and finances – he offers an overall picture pf health that employs contentment, simplicity, balance, and rest. From the publisher. Get this book.
Contentment: The Secret to a Lasting Call
Richard A. Swenson Swenson, himself a physician, guides his readers to consider the place of contentment in their lives. Ultimately, the only place where true contentment can be found is in Christ. Very helpful for those of us living in the chaos of achievement-oriented culture of medicine. From the Ed. Get this book.
Living the Sabbath: Discovering the Rhythms of Rest and Delight
Sabbath is one day a week when we should rest from our otherwise harried lives, right? In Living the Sabbath, Norman Wirzba leads us to a much more holistic and rewarding understanding of Sabbath-keeping. Wirzba shows how Sabbath is ultimately about delight in the goodness that God has made–in everything we do, every day of […]
How Shall We Then Practice? Medicine as Gift, Power, and Christian Vocation.
Farr Curlin This is an excellent overview of the theology of medicine by the founding director of the University of Chicago’s Program in Medicine & Religion. Helpfully borrows and summarizes from Shuman and Volck’s work in particular. From Ed. This article was originally published in the journal Health & Development, published by the Christian Community […]
Teach Us to Care, and Not to Care
Eugene Peterson From Subversive Spirituality A masterful piece written about the vocation of Christian caregiving today. With classic rhetorical whimsy, Peterson (author of The Message paraphrase of the Bible) challenges us to live in the tension between our own poverty as caregivers and the inevitable sinfulness of those we care for.
The Hippocratic Oath (Modern Version)
Compare to the ancient version of this oath. From Ed. I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant: I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow. I will […]
Upholding the Vision: Serving the Poor in Training and Beyond
The Hebrew prophets described the flourishing that God intends for creation as shalom, which we could today translate as health in the deepest and most holistic sense. And nowhere is the lack of shalom more evident today than some of the most broken and economically-deprived places. We would do well to work toward to health […]
The Healer’s Calling: A Spirituality for Physicians and Other Health Care Professionals
Daniel Sulmasy Sulmasy is a Franciscan friar, philosopher, physician, and academic. This volume, directed towards believing physicians, integrates faith and healthcare, offering professionals insight on how to find spiritual meaning in clinical practice and take seriously their Christian vocation. From Ed. Get this book.
Reclaiming the Body: Christians and the Faithful Use of Modern Medicine
Joel Shuman and Brian Volck One of the best books dealing with the intersection of faith and medicine. Written by a Catholic pediatrician and a Methodist theologian. Very thought-provoking for medical professionals and “laity” alike, especially in its polemic against “medical Gnosticism. From Ed. Get this book.
The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society
The Wounded Healer is a hope-filled and profoundly simple book that speaks directly to those men and women who want to be of service in their church or community, but have found the traditional ways often threatening and ineffective. In this book, Henri Nouwen combines creative case studies of ministry with stories from diverse cultures […]
Medicine as Ministry

Margaret E. Mohrmann Mohrmann is a pediatrician and philosopher at the University of Virginia who thoughtfully examines how Christians should approach medicine. Well worth the price of the book for her chapter on the idolatry of health and medicine. From Ed. Get this book.