Wounded healer helps next generation see through the lens of hope

FRANKLIN SPRINGS, GA — A veteran Christian author who has devoted his life to campus ministry has written a new book that confronts our social media generation that suffers from loneliness but fears intimacy and is making digital connections that offer the illusion of authentic friendship.

Chris Maxwell, a bestselling author and college pastor, was diagnosed with a near-fatal case of encephalitis in 1996. It gave him a new perspective on life and relationships.

In Things We’ve Handed Down: Twelve Letters I Leave for You, Maxwell shares a personal collection of letters and stories that reflect the lessons he learned from influential books that “authors passed on to me,” he said.

“My personal grief, my own wounds, my tears, have taught me more about what I want to pass on to others,” said Maxwell, a “wounded healer” who helps others while living with epilepsy.

“Hope in the storm — like the calming eye of a hurricane. Certainty when there is no good news — like wearing a lens of faith that offers a different perspective,” he said.

In Things We’ve Handed Down, Maxwell shares with his readers powerful memories from his life that include death, grief, love, acceptance, forgiveness, disappointment, joy, long walks with Grandpa, meeting new friends, and even leading a funeral service.

“This is life. When the good and the bad mingle. When the laughter and the tears sit together. When the joy and the tears hold hands,” Maxwell said.

“In these stories I try to continue to convey thoughts that I have learned, thoughts that I wish I could apply better, thoughts that I think others can apply better than I can,” he said.

In a chapter titled “Wounded Healer,” Maxwell offers a salve for the damaging words passed down by parents, siblings, grandparents, classmates, neighbors, pastors, teachers, coaches and strangers that still play on the minds of people young and old. “Those statements continue to wound your deepest self — I’m sorry.”

“Saying ‘I’m sorry’ is not a cliché. That word is an important part of this letter. I feel bad about your wounds, your scars, your limp,” he said.

Legacy of alarming dangers passed on to social media generation

The book, which will be released on October 1, highlights the horrific dangers facing the social media-dependent generation, often lonely children and young teens who unwittingly befriend predators online.

According to Maxwell, a father of three, here are some alarming trends being passed down to the next generation in America:

• According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, there are 4 million cases of child abuse and neglect each year
• Nearly 800,000 12- to 17-year-olds use illegal drugs
• It is estimated that there are 500,000 online predators who sexually exploit children, with more than half of those children between the ages of 12 and 15.

Finally, Maxwell advises readers to “notice their wounds and resist any tendency to deny, ignore, or avoid them… Wounds are where the light comes in.”

About the author

Chris Maxwell joined Emmanuel College as Director of Spiritual Life and Campus Pastor after pastoring a church in Orlando, Florida, for 19 years. His best-selling book, Underwater: When Encephalitis, Brain Damage, and Epilepsy Changed Everything, explores how encephalitis nearly took his life. The scarring in his brain and epilepsy left him—and his family—with permanent change. Maxwell speaks at churches, retreats, conferences, and medical conventions around the world. He and his wife, Debbie, have three sons.

CONTACT: Gregg Wooding, 972-567-7660, [email protected]

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