And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:17)

Have you ever struggled to figure out what following Jesus means in your work? Having completed my first year of clinical attachments I was excited by the tremendous opportunities that healthcare professionals have to glorify God in their work. I was also surprised at how easily cynicism, disillusionment, fatigue and many other such occupational hazards knocked me and many of my Christian friends off course! Tessellating addresses the issue of how faith in Jesus relates to clinical practice and was written with students and junior graduates in mind.

The opening chapters consider the gospel message within the historical framework of the Bible, as well as dealing with the issues of our identity in Christ and our self-perception. While it may be tempting to skip over these opening pages, the exploration and application of these topics has been astutely focused on issues relevant to healthcare professionals. 'The message may be familiar, but I hope the perspective to be slightly different from what you may be accustomed to.'

The effect of church history and Greek and Hebrew thought on our attitudes towards our working lives is concisely covered. The pragmatic reader will be relieved that there are also specific discussions and simple examples of how each of us can make a difference in the workplace.

The important distinction between healing and cure is dealt with in a challenging chapter that requires us to re-examine the way we view the needs of patients (see Jeremy's article on pp15-22 of this edition of Nucleus). The conversational style of writing is easy to read - I even managed the church history stuff without the usual difficulty! Jeremy's sense of humour and insight through the many anecdotes and illustrations help fix in context the diverse topics of discussion.

This book manages to achieve that elusive combination of being both compact and comprehensive. It is not prescriptive tick list of what a 'good Christian doctor' should be, but rather deals with many of the things that hinder us from being the people God calls us to be. I found it very liberating to read, being both challenged and excited to follow God more closely every day.

Reviewed by:
Linden Baxter
Clinical student at Imperial College, London