cover image God Is No Illusion

God Is No Illusion

John Tully Carmody. Trinity Press International, $19.95 (128pp) ISBN 978-1-56338-188-1

In her foreword to her husband's last book, Denise Larder Carmody emphasizes that this book should not be read--it should be prayed. When he died in September 1995, John Carmody was Senior Research Fellow in Religion at Santa Clara University, but he here writes that his Ph.D. in religious studies was not the competence on which he drew for this book. In his engaging manner, Carmody states that his postdoctoral preparation for this book was the three and a half years he lived with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the bone marrow. In addition, Carmody grew tired of the emptiness and pseudo-spirituality of the many contemporary books on suffering and death that announced hope but offered, instead, trite advice wholly inadequate to the task of addressing the fact of excruciating suffering and pain. Thus, in this book, Carmody writes psalms from the end of life that deal with serious illness, aging and death. These psalms, he notes, come from late night and early morning, times of sorrow and pain and fear. The psalms are structured by letters written to family and friends by Denise and John Carmody on the progress of John's illness. With his typical humor, self-effacement and insight, John Carmody has produced a contemporary psalter of laments and praise songs that is sure to lead many people through the valley of the shadow of pain and suffering. (Jan.)