From Brokenness to Atonement, Faith, Hope, and Love: A Vietnam War Sniper's Journey and a Psychiatrist's Bibliotherapy - Paperback

by Hani Raoul Khouzam Mph Fapa (Author)

This is a story of Mr. L, an orphan who was raised and nurtured by a devoted Carmelite nun, then drafted to serve as a skilled sniper during the Vietnam War. A journey of learning and mastering of the French language, excelling in the Little League baseball, discovering the art of hunting, and of an uttermost devotion to assigned military missions. A tale of grief, depression, anxiety, intermixed with bitterness, rage, fear, and delayed onset posttraumatic stress disorder with its most devastating aftermath of survivor's guilt.

Witnessing the emergence of innate talents, the gifts of left-handedness, and astounding suddenness of action in each and every providential and self-inflicted circumstances. Travelling through life in orphanages with boyish freedom, self-consciousness, and then an adulthood of giving of oneself and sacrificing of own needs to fulfill a patriotic mission, an acceptance of a higher calling to serve the poor and the disfranchised.

Biographies are woven in the tapestry of the therapeutic alliance of a patient-and-physician relationship.

As a reader, you will be invited to introspect and reflect on the wonder of the human brain, the bubbling joy of loving, and the gift of living.

Will Mr. L descend into the abyss of ending his God-given gift of a well-deserved and joyful life or will he survive his heartbreaking sorrows and insurmountable guilt? Can brokenness be restored through faith, hope, love, and forgiveness?

The answers could be revealed by reading this personal journey--a portrait of faith, grace, and the joy that rises from giving and loving.