When Sarah Williams learns that the baby she is carrying will likely not survive birth, her world crashes down around her. Amidst the voices of well-meaning onlookers offering to pray for healing, the bittersweet companionship of a pregnant best friend, medical staff who question her decision, and the loving support of friends who respect it, Williams and her family learn to celebrate life while preparing for the birth and subsequent death of their youngest daughter, diagnosed with a lethal skeletal deformity.
Lyrical, articulate, and heart-wrenching, “Perfectly Human” (Plough Publishing House, October) describes the short life of Cerian, Welsh for “loved one,” as her family comes to terms with the ultimate purpose of their daughter’s short life.
When a doctor asks if she has decided against an abortion on “strong religious grounds,” Williams responds, “Cerian is not a strong religious principle or a rule that compels me to make
hard and fast ethical decisions. She is a beautiful person who is teaching me to love the vulnerable, treasure the unlovely, and face fear with dignity and hope.”
In this candid account, Williams brings the reader along with her on the intimate journey towards Cerian’s birthday, which will also be her deathday.
In a society constantly striving for perfection — where worth is earned, identity is constructed, children are a choice, normal is beautiful, and deformity is repulsive — Cerian’s short, beautiful life invites us to reconsider what it means to be human.
A perfect guest for International Infant Loss Remembrance Day on Friday, October 19.
Source : Christian News Wire
