Commentary and Reviews
Meditations offer hope and ‘spiritual sunlight’

Spiritual Sunlight for the Weary
By Lynn Vanderzalm
1998, Harold Shaw, Wheaton, Ill.
$11.99 (Available from the publisher at 800/742-9782)

Many PWCs struggle with emotional and spiritual issues in their illness. In her new book, PWC Lynn Vanderzalm addresses many of those issues through 78 meditations, each consisting of a short passage from the Bible, a meditation and a prayer.

In Spiritual Sunlight for the Weary: Meditations for the Chronically Fatigued, Vanderzalm draws on the perspectives of 16 other men, women and children who live with chronic fatigue that is the result of CFIDS, fibromyalgia or other illness. Vanderzalm and the other writers offer insights and hope from their personal circumstances.

Vanderzalm says of the writers: "Their faith has been challenged as they have watched their careers die, their friends leave them, and their bodies be drained of energy. In these pages they offer perspective and insights about some questions we all ask: Where do I find faith in the darkness? Where do I find hope in the midst of the despair? How do I calm my fears?

"I’m so glad God is not afraid of our questions. In fact, he often meets us at these tension points in our lives. In the midst of the stresses he reveals that he has come to be the answer to our questions, the strength in our weakness, the light in our darkness."

When soccer player and PWC Michelle Akers read the book, she responded personally to one of the meditations:

"One of the greatest struggles in my experience with CFIDS was the fact that I felt worthless and insignificant. Everything I had thought valuable...was taken away and I was left with nothing. Or so I thought. Lynn Vanderzalm has tons of great stuff in her little book of Sunlight, but one page that especially struck me was the one titled ‘What Am I Worth?’ It says:

"‘What we do or have does not define our worth. We are valuable simply because God says we are. Look what God says to us. You are redeemed; that is your value. You are mine; that is your security. You are precious; that is your worth. You are honored; that is your significance. You are loved; that is your assurance.’

"Awesome stuff. The book is filled with scripture truths and insights from other PWCs and truly is a light in the darkness."

Lynn Vanderzalm’s previous book, Finding Strength in Weakness: Hope and Help for Families Battling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, is still available from the Association.