REV. DR. KATHY HURT

After publication of her memoir, The Dark Has Its Own Light (under the pen name Sue Dowell), Kathy began developing written materials on the intersection of faith, spiritual growth, mental illness, and recovery for audiences both within and beyond traditional churches.  Her perspective in writing reflects an openness to the wisdom of myriad spiritual paths and practices in the belief that while the spiritual journey may draw all to the same end, the particular course of that journey will be varying and unique to each person.

Kathy holds degrees from Rice University, the University of Chicago, and Meadville/Lombard Theological School.  In addition to serving congregations, she has worked in a residential school for abused children and in a school for juvenile delinquents.  In 2016 Kathy published a memoir account of her recovery from severe depression, entitled The Dark Has Its Own Light, written under the pen name of Sue Dowell.

“I believe the spiritual journey is a journey towards wholeness, and that wholeness necessarily includes the work of finding a place in one’s life for every experience, positive and negative, rewarding and disappointing, our successes—and our failures.  We might prefer to keep the good stuff and discard everything else, but such a process would not likely bring us to the place of wholeness we desire.  All we are, our darkness and our light, and all we have known and done, no matter whether we judge it to have been worthwhile or not, all must ultimately be woven into the tapestry that is our life.  God comes to us in each moment, inviting us to see the deeper meaning that is ever present, the potential for love that is ever being offered us.

To that end, my writings include stories of my own times of despair and loss, especially the struggles I have known when I fell into periods of clinical depression.  I write about these times both to offer comfort and hope to those who carry similar burdens, as well as to reflect how the work of integrating all parts of experience, including the painful parts, might unfold.  I invite you to browse my writings, to send me questions and comments and, if you feel so inspired, to share your stories.  While the path we travel is often hard and the way seldom clear, we do not travel this path alone.  God walks beside us, we walk beside one another, and we all journey together.”

KATHY’S WORK

WHISPERS
OF THE SOUL

PSALMS FOR ALL
OUR DAYS AND WAYS

THE DARK HAS
ITS OWN LIGHT