I didn't love reading this book, although I did enjoy Philip Yancey's introduction and several portions of the book itself have stuck with me. The book was written by Dr. Paul Brand, a renowned hand surgeon and leprosy expert. In it, Dr. Brand draws some insightful connections between human anatomy/physiology and the church. For example, in the "pain" section, he discusses our body's natural redistribution of weight/stress to avoid pain and injury. We change our grip, stride, gait, etc. because repeated pressure on the same spot will cause damage. He then states that the church (the body of Christ) needs the same adaptation. We fail to redistribute stress by putting too much pressure on our leaders (pastors, missionaries) and, when they fall short, we respond with rejection instead of giving them a chance to "limp." We also overlook certain members who are undergoing repetitive, everyday stress, instead of redistributing their stress by taking on their burdens. There were lots of these cool connections throughout the book, as well as lots of fascinating/compelling/extremely gross stories from Dr. Brand's decades in India treating leprosy patients.

I really liked the story, again from the "pain" chapters, where Dr. Brand recounts the story of Pedro, who was one of the rare leprosy patients who lacked sensation of pain in his left hand for 15 years, yet the hand suffered no damage (pain being a protective mechanism of the body that leprosy patients lack and, as a result, suffer substantial disfiguring injuries). As it turned out, Pedro had a tiny birthmark on the edge of his palm that retained its sensitivity. This single spot, viewed as a defect when he was a child, protected his whole hand when he developed leprosy. Dr. Brand then stated the need for what has become a large and institutional church to retain similar patches of sensitivity, for "prophets, whether in speech, sermon, or art form, who will call attention to the needy by eloquently voicing their pain."

Another cool connection was in the "blood" chapters, where Dr. Brand related the physiology of "wise blood" (a Flannery-O'Conner-coined term that refers to the process by which, after antibodies have locked away the secret of defeating each disease, a second infection of the same type will normally do no harm) to communion. Dr. Brand writes of both:

There is a sense in which a person's blood becomes more valuable and potent as that person prevails in numerous battles with outside invaders. . . . The blood of Jesus Christ has overcome. It is as if he went out of his way to expose himself to temptation, to encounter the stress and strain you and I will meet -- to gain wise blood for our benefit.