Spiritual Connection

Foundations of Healing #3

My integrated cancer care community, InspireHealth, names "Spiritual Connection" as the third "Foundation of Healing" in their integrated approach to cancer care.

This is an important part of my own cancer journey and begins with the simple awareness that I am a spiritual being.  I have personal awareness and experience of this dimension of my being through practices such as prayer, meditation, worship, study and reflection, and service. 

While I may be cognizant of a "realized spirituality" in my own life, I am also aware that this is a deeply personal matter and not true for all people.   In studying the types of religious and spiritual experiences of people with chronic illness one study identified the following three groups 

1. Religious individuals who highly value religious faith, spiritual well-being, and the meaning of life.
2. Existential individuals who highly value spiritual well-being but not religious faith.
3. Nonspiritual individuals who have little value for religiousness, spirituality, or a sense of the meaning of life.

Source:  National Cancer Institute

Religion vs Spirituality

That there are differences between religion and spirituality is generally accepted.  What those differences are is a matter of interpretation.  My good friend and colleague Don Grayston, drew this diagram to help me see his understanding of the relationship between religion and spirituality.

In this schematic we can understand "religion" as more defined and "structured".  It has order, beliefs, specific practices, and organization.  Spirituality on the other hand is a little less ordered, more free-flowing, less defined and less structured.

From this diagram we can also see that there would be those who are "spiritual but NOT religious" as well as those who are "religious but NOT spiritual".   Some would assume that to be "religious" would naturally involve "spirituality".  Personally, I think not.  I believe that you could be involved in all of the "outward forms" of religion but realize no "spiritual life",  no love of neighbour, no inner peace, no transformation, no enlightenment of consciousness, no relationship with God,  nada. 

Personally, I view the structure and practices of "religion" as a helpful means to realize a healthy "spirituality".   "Religion" provides me with the community, traditions, accountablity, beliefs, discipline, and practices that help to nurture and sustain my faith. 

Spirituality and Healing

The relationship between spirituality and healing has been known by the world's religious traditions since time immemorial.  From ancient shamanic practices to modern medicine the role of religion and faith in healing has been recognized and affirmed.  Contemporary research has confirmed the significance of faith and spirituality in the quality of life and health of cancer patients.

"Religion and spirituality have been shown to be significantly associated with measures of adjustment and with the management of symptoms in cancer patients. Religious and spiritual coping have been associated with lower levels of patient discomfort as well as reduced hostility, anxiety, and social isolation in cancer patients and in family caregivers. Specific characteristics of strong religious beliefs, including hope, optimism, freedom from regret, and life satisfaction, have also been associated with improved adjustment in individuals diagnosed with cancer." National Cancer Institute

Personal Approach

My own personal approach to living with cancer includes prayer, meditation, healing touch, tai chi, worship, and spiritual reading and study.  This in addition to chemo, surgery, radiation, exercise, supplements, etc...

Be well... Rob; in Vancouver

"Spiritual healing plays a vitally important role in the healing process, creating a solid foundation for recovery.  By reclaiming this connection, we live life more fully, maximize our immune response, and become actively engaged in the process of recovery."  Inspirehealth

See all "Foundations of Healing" posts...  Here

Emotional Connection

Foundations of Healing #6: 

"Our true reality is in our identity and unity
with all life."

Joseph Campbell

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I’ve recently reconnected with an online cancer support group through the American Cancer Society. The Cancer Survivors Network (CSN) brings survivors and caregivers together into a "virtual community" of mutual care and support. The online feature of this group has helped me to connect during times in which I am very much cut-off from community and friends because of my illness. Discussion groups on CSN are formed around various cancer types. I’m connected to the colorectal cancer group, or as they refer to themselves, the “semicolons”!! ;-) ;-)

I am always a little wary of "online community".  My experience has been that it rarely becomes "authentic" in terms of meaningful connections and shared life.  Anonymity and indifference, the great detractors of community life, can abound in on-line communities making it difficult to create a safe place where folks can open up and connect at the levels of heart and soul.   Somehow though... this particular "semi-colon" group seems to have been able to overcome many of the obstacles inherent in online communication to create a truly worthwhile community.

There is something very powerful and healing about talking with others who have shared my experience. Hearing the stories of healing and recovery provides me with a genuine source of hope and courage. Hearing the stories of those who are suffering recurrences or setbacks reminds me that I am not alone when things are going bad. Having a safe place where I am able to share my own experiences helps me to relinquish some of my fears and worries and provides an outlet for both lament and celebration. No matter what I am going through at the moment there are others who have shared a similar experience and who are available to give emotional support, share advice on conventional and alternative treatments, provide encouragement, or just simply listen.

Cancer support groups, on-line or otherwise, are one way of making emotional connections.  There are, or course, many others.  I am particularly blessed in this area by a rich circle of family, friends, and colleagues who support and sustain me on the journey.  All part of the firm "Foundations of Healing" in my cancer journey!

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Vickie Girard in her book “There’s No Place Like Hope” looked up the meaning of support and had this to say…

“I once looked up “support” in the dictionary. It says: “To carry the weight; To maintain position to keep from falling, sinking, or slipping; To be able to bear – withstand; To keep from falling or yielding during stress; To furnish corroborating evidence; To aid the cause of by approving, favoring, advocating; To take action.” What a wonderful definition! Believe me, every single word applies to the experience of belonging to a cancer patient support group.” Vickie Girard

AMEN to that!!

Have a truly great day!! Rob

"Whenever we take the trouble to plumb the depths of an experience and extract from it all it contains, the simplest as well as the most hidden, we cease to speak of ourselves and ourselves alone. Instead, we enter the realm of the most precious, the realm of universal experience, which we share with all others."

Jacques Lusseyran

Hope

Foundations of Healing #2: 

"The note we end on is, and must be,

the note of inexhaustible possibility and hope."

Evelyn Underhill

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On Sunday evening we broke bread with David and Sandra Beggs, our dear friends from the Queen Charlotte Islands.  We've known Sandra for years,  ever since our kids were in diapers and scrambling along the driftwood and sand beaches of Haida Gwai. 

In the midst of our meal of sockeye salmon Sandra presented me with the gift of a beautiful eagle feather. Sandra had beaded the stem of the feather into an intricate handle bearing two simple symbols, a cross, and the word HOPE.   She had been working on the beadwork since learning of my recurrence and filled each stitch with thoughts and prayers of hope and healing for me.   A veritable talisman of hope and healing energy from a place to which, and a people to whom, I am very deeply connected!!  WOW!!

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It is unimaginable for me to walk this path without a sense of hope which is shorn up and supported by others on this journey.  Shortly after my original diagnosis with metastatic colon cancer in 2004 I was visited by my friend Brian, a 10 year survivor at that time, who became for me a living symbol of hope and possibility.  Bearers of hope like Brian work miracles in the lives of other cancer survivors who are searching for a path of life in the midst of the valley of shadows.

I don't experience hope as a "pie-in-the-sky" dreaming or wishful thinking.  Nor is it a "pollyanish" or shallow cheerfulness in the face of obvious diasaster.  To be meaningful for me hope must take into account the reality of my life situation with all of its challenges and very real threats.  To be sustaining for me hope must be deeper and provide strength especially when things are NOT going well.  In this respect I find that hope emerges sometimes only after a period of deep sorrow and lament, a time of revisiting and revising expectations, and an opportunity to discover new possibilities.  In these times I'm inspired by the wise words of Vaclav Havel, who said of hope...

"Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not because it stands for a chance to succeed."

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For the "spiritually inclined" I invite you to explore the "practice of hope" at the excellent website "Spirituality and Practice" .  Here you will find inspiring quotes and practical suggestions on how to make HOPE a regular practice on your journey.  Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, founders of "Spirituality and Practice", describe the practice of HOPE as follows...

"Hope is a positive and potent spiritual practice with the power to pull us through difficult times. It is usually described with light metaphors — a ray, a beam, a glimmer of hope; the break in the clouds; the light at the end of the dark tunnel. It is often discovered in unexpected places."

"Hope can be learned with practice. Certain attitudes support it. One is patience, an ability to tolerate delays, a willingness to let events unfold in their own time. The other is courage, an attitude of confidence even when facing the unknown. A third is persistence, the determination to keep going no matter what happens. We have hope when we can say, all will be well, and we mean it."

All will be well...  Rob; in Vancouver

"There is no such thing as false hope. 
Only false despair!" 

Candace Pert

Foundations of Healing

InspireHealth is an integrated cancer care community in Vancouver, BC. I’ve mentioned them in previous posts back in 2007. They have an excellent model for approaching the healing of cancer as illustrated in the "Foundations of Healing" figure below .

(click picture to enlarge)

Note that at the very base of the pyramid is “Will to Live”, followed by “Hope”, “Spiritual Connection”, “Personal Autonomy”, “Mind-Body Awareness”, and so on. This model emphasizes a holistic approach towards healing cancer. An approach which affirms the whole person, body, mind, soul, and spirit rather than just focussing on the disease or tumour.

(click picture to enlarge)

A strictly "tumour based" approach disregards most of the basic foundations and targets only the tumour with either radiation, chemo, or surgery. Important as these conventional therapies are, they are not the whole story and it is questionable as to how effective they are in the long run in the absence of the other foundations. Without the underpinnings of a strong will to live, hope, emotional and spiritual connections, healthful diet and water, exercise, and stress reduction conventional therapies are easily undermined.

Over the next while I'd like to reflect on those "Foundations of Healing" that have been significant to me in my personal journey with cancer.  

Be Well...  Rob; in Vancouver

"Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well. Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food." Hippocrates

Will to Live

Foundations of Healing #1:  

In “The Mapmakers Wife” , Robert Whitaker tells the story of an 18th century Peruvian woman who makes a remarkable journey from the Andes Mountains down the Amazon River to be reunited with her beloved husband Jean. Isabel Godin left her home in 1770 with a large party which included her brothers, a nephew, and a fair complement of slaves, servants, guides, and mules.

Shortly into the journey things go terribly wrong and she finds herself alone and lost in the jungle of the upper Amazon. Isabel endured over 6 weeks of wandering in the jungle. During this time she watched her brothers and nephew die of starvation and was beset by plagues of ants, mosquitoes, botflies, and other nasty insects. Against all odds Isabel was found, survived, recovered, and completed her journey.

In reflecting on Isabel’s ordeal and remarkable survival Whitaker states that what seems to count most in survival is “an inner psychological strength nurtured by purpose, hope, and spiritual beliefs”. He also points out that Isabel was “experienced in a humble act practiced by nearly all survivors… prayer”. For Isabel the commitment to be reunited with Jean formed a compelling "will to live" which sustained her in the end. 

When it comes to living with cancer, a strong "will to live" will influence a person to become proactive in seeking and evaluating treatment options.  A strong "will to live" will empower a person to become more assertive in dealing with the medical system. And a strong "will to live" will help to push a person through treatment regimes that, while potentially life-saving, can be very life-limiting while in the midst of them (chemo, surgery, radiation, etc.). 

There comes a day when we may "relinquish" our "will to live".    I've personally witnessed this in people as they draw near to death and literally "let go" into a peaceful and grace filled acceptence of the end.   Discerning the time for this "letting go" is one of the most important pieces of soul-work we can do as we face the terminal stages of cancer or other life-threatening conditions.

My own will to live continues to be strong.  I have a wonderful family life that is filled with love, I have a meaningful vocation that continues to be fruitful, I am relatively "young", and I love this life and want to get as much out of it as possible.

A strong "will to live", in and of itself, is obviously not going to get us through everything.  Many people die in possession of the strongest possible "will to live".  What it will provide is purpose for the journey and courage for the work along the way.Carpe Diem... Rob
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“I want my will to live to be strong. I want to get as much time out of this as possible. And so I need to work at that with complete focus and dedication and clarity and concentration, and right effort. And yet, at the same time, be unattached to the results either way. Pain is not punishment, death is not failure, life is not reward.”
Treya Killam Wilber

originally posted June 2007