My Body and Other Crumbling Empires

Lessons for Healing in a World That Is Sick 

My Body and Other Crumbling Empires

Lessons for Healing in a World That Is Sick 

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We are living in a world that is sick. Both literally sick, with 60 percent of adults in the US living with a chronic illness and rising rates of autoimmune diseases in particular, including long COVID, and figuratively sick, facing ever increasing rates of burnout, anxiety, and disconnection.

As a writer, activist, and theology student, Lyndsey Medford was used to critiquing unsustainable medical, environmental, economic, and social systems from a theoretical perspective. But when her autoimmune disorder roared out of remission, she discovered that her own body's systems lived at the very real vortex of all those systems' dysfunction.

Learning to cooperate with her body would require her to change every aspect of her life--and in the process, to seek a radical reimagining of the world, from a place where sickness is an individual affliction to an interdependent ecosystem where sustainability is a community way of life. In this beautiful and inspiring book, Medford draws on her experiences with a rare autoimmune disease to illuminate the broader lessons we need to learn, in order to heal what ails us individually and communally. Whether our burnout stems from illness, systemic racism, poverty, or simply sin's separation, we're all in need of hope, and we are called to heal together.

My Body and Other Crumbling Empires points out the beauty and ubiquity of our limitations; the importance of accessibility, broadly construed; the interconnected nature of individual and public health; and the badly needed wisdom we have gained from living with our particular bodies.

Dive deeper with the My Body and Other Crumbling Empires journal and discussion guide—perfect for group or individual study and reflection.

Endorsements

"I'm inspired by Lyndsey Medford's deft mix of gentleness and fire. She speaks the truth we crave and manages to do so with the voice of a trusted friend." 

Shannan Martin, author of Falling Free; The Ministry of Ordinary Places; and Start with Hello

"Through the ache of embodied life, Lyndsey Medford finds goodness, glory, and the generosity of God, reminding all of us who suffer that we are 'here, here and now, and for good reason.' A beautiful debut."

Courtney Ellis, pastor and author of Uncluttered; Almost Holy Mama; and Happy Now

"Medford weaves through the ways our lives are pushed and pulled in a system that is not set up to teach us to have a relationship with our body, just to conquer and tame it. She reminds us that self-care without community care, without centering and acknowledging those who are marginalized, misses the bigger picture. I highly recommend this beautiful guide on living in a body." 

J. Nicole Morgan, author of Fat and Faithful

"In a society that creates a false binary between the sick and the well, Lyndsey Medford bravely reminds us that surrender is a form of strength, that gentleness can achieve what force cannot, and that we are deeply interdependent."

Ellie Roscher, author of The Embodied Path; 12 Tiny Things; Play Like a Girl; and How Coffee Saved my Life

Product Info

  • Publisher Broadleaf Books
  • Format Hardcover
  • ISBN 9781506484310
  • eBook ISBN 9781506484327
  • Dimensions 5.75 x 8.75
  • Pages 227
  • Publication Date March 7, 2023
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