Retired Southport lecturer’s new book praised
Added: (Wed Sep 13 2023)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
A retired lecturer and journalist from Southport is offering pain relief with the publication of her latest five-star-rated book.
Dr Elizabeth Stewart has taught and written on both sides of the Atlantic during distinguished careers.
And she also retrained to become a highly respected private and NHS counsellor.
The 78-year-old has also lived with significant pain ever since a car crash in the early 1980s left her partly paralysed and requiring a wheelchair.
Dr Stewart also had to contend with alcoholism after initially turning to drink to supress her mental and physical pain.
The mother-of-two has charted her battle with the bottle in her 2017 memoir, A Raging Thirst.
And she has now published Let Christ Transform Your Pain, explaining the relief and comfort that religion has brought over the past three decades.
Dr Stewart said: “I spent months in hospital having a series of operations on my shattered bones following the traffic accident in 1983, and during my stay I read The Story of a Soul by St Therese of Lisieux.
“Her book spoke of something called ‘offering up one's sufferings’ - a Catholic way of allowing one's pain to be used by Jesus and share in His redemptive work.
“I was deeply impressed, and became a Catholic in 1989.
“Let Christ Transform Your Pain explains in detail how the Catholic approach to suffering, known as ‘offering it up’, can be of great consolation to anyone in pain, mental or physical.
“Although it's a Catholic teaching it need not be confined to Catholics - any Christian in pain may offer their sufferings to God.
“When we do this, He transforms our pain into life-giving, spiritual energy that is used to help others.”
Since the publication of Let Christ Transform Your Pain, it has received entirely five-star reviews from captivated readers.
Elizabeth’s latest book has been described as ‘inspiring and practical’, ‘helpful’ and ‘a good example to follow’.
Critic Gordon MacLeod stated: “Although written from a Roman Catholic perspective, there is much wisdom to be gleaned from it in relation to managing suffering, which any Christian, and even anyone who is enquiring about faith, could learn from and adopt.”
Let Christ Transform Your Pain provides guidance on prayer and draws examples of religious figures who underwent great suffering.
Dr Stewart added: “The message I want readers to take from my book is that all forms of suffering may be transformed into something truly good if we offer our pain to Christ, uniting it to His own Passion on the Cross.
“When we do so, we will find our own pain is alleviated.
“Everyone who has read my draft has said it has helped them cope with their own pain.
There is no pain, no matter how little or great it seems to us, that is without value when offered to God.
“He accepts it with love.
“It may be all we have to offer, but it is of tremendous worth to Him.”
Away from writing, Dr Stewart enjoys painting and playing guitar and ukulele with her husband in a semi-professional band.
For more details, visit Amazon and search for Elizabeth Stewart, where the paperback and Kindle formats of Let Christ Transform Your Pain are both available.
Notes to the editor
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