In her book, "Broken Yet Beloved", author Sharon Thornton describes the gift of healing in these poignant terms: "Healing does not come from outside the individual like a kind of application, nor is it drawn up from the inner resources of an individual. In distinction to this individualistic notion of personhood is the growing recognition of the social nature and construction of the self and its corporate dimension. In this view autonomy is not absent, it is contextualized; to be a person means to be part of a people. The contextual self that is formed, nurtured, and revealed in relationship finds its first and final referent in what we call God. This understanding does not disregard human agency, but it also considers men and women as receivers. In this view healing is a gift. Healing is something to be received, not something to be grasped or engineered. From this perspective healing comes not from inner strength and self-understanding alone, but through just relationships that are hospitable to the healing presence of the holy. The reign of God, the realm of the holy, is the locus of healing..."

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