A Good Day

Enjoy this short meditation on gratefulness from Brother David Steindl-Rast.  Visit David and learn more about the practice of gratitude at www.gratefulness.org.


Have “A Good Day”!!   Rob; in Vancouver

“Love wholeheartedly, be surprised,
give thanks and praise,

then you will discover the fullness of your life.”

Brother David Steindl-Rast

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

Choices in Healing

Michael Lerner is the author of “Choices in Healing: Integrating the Best of Conventional and Complementary Approaches to Cancer” (availble to read online). He's one of our leading thinkers when it comes to integrated cancer treatment. Here's what he would do if he faced a cancer diagnosis, in his own words…

• “I would give careful thought to choosing a mainstream oncologist. I wouldn’t need someone with wonderful empathic skills--I’m fortunate to have other people in my life who provide that. But I would want a doctor who was basically kind, and on top of the medical literature regarding my disease. I would look for a doctor who was willing to take the time to answer my questions, and who supported my commitment to be deeply involved in my treatment decisions, and my commitment to complementary therapies. Finally, I would want a doctor who would stick with me medically and emotionally if recovery were not possible and I faced death.
• I would use mainstream therapies that offered a real chance for recovery, but I would probably not use experimental therapies or therapies with a low probability of success that were highly toxic or compromised my capacity to live and, if it came to that, die as I chose.
• I would use complementary therapies. I would look for a good support group and a psychotherapist experienced in working with people with cancer. I’ve been a vegetarian for many years, but I would look for ways to enhance my nutrition. I would meditate and practice yoga more often, and spend more time in Nature, taking walks in the woods, by the ocean, and in the mountains.
• I would definitely use traditional Chinese medicine, both herbs and acupuncture.
• I would strive for life, for recovery, with every possible tool and resource I could find. But if recovery were not possible, I would also work to face death in a way that deepened my growth and led to some resolution of my life and relationships.
• I would pay a great deal of attention to the inner healing process that I hope a cancer diagnosis would trigger in me. I would give careful thought to the meaning of my life, what I had to let go of, and what I wanted to keep.
• I would spend time with the people I value, and with books, writing, music, and my own vision of God. I would do everything I could do that I didn’t want to leave undone. I would not waste time with old obligations, though I would try to extricate myself from them decently.
• I would try to live my own life my own way. I would try to accept the pain and sorrow inherent in my situation, but I would also look searchingly for the beauty, wisdom, and joy."

Well said Michael!!

TTFN... 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

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Michael Lerner on Healing

On Suffering

Life is “dukkha”! Life is suffering! Herein lies the first noble truth in the Buddhist worldview. To live is to experience some manner of suffering.

Most of the world’s great philosophical and religious traditions attempt to deal with the reality of suffering and the many questions it raises. What causes suffering? How can we make sense of it? How do we overcome it, transcend it, or at least live with grace in the face of it?

“What is the noble truth of suffering? Birth is suffering, aging is suffering and sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering.” Buddha

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Suffering has many faces; physical pain, illness, cancer, aging, and death; the individual or collective experience of violence, oppression, social injustice and inequality; stress and conflict in relationships, grief at the loss of a loved one, and anguish in parenting; unfulfilled dreams and expectations. Take your pick. The experience of some form of suffering in our lives is inescapable, try as we might to avoid it.

Franciscan priest and teacher, Richard Rohr, has said that one of the common denominators in all human suffering is the experience that we are powerless; we have been overwhelmed by circumstances and events beyond our power to control. The ancient psalms of lament often expressed this with words like... “I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me…”

One of the other thoughts that Richard shares about pain and suffering is… “In many ways, spirituality is about what we do with our pain. And the truth is, if we don't transform it, we will transmit it.” What Richard speaks of, and what we’ve all seen on many occasions, is the unresolved grief and pain of an individual, or of a group, transmitted through acts of anger, hatred, and violence towards others. Simone Weil puts it simply this way... “A hurtful act is the transference to others of the degradation which we bear in ourselves.”

We also see many examples of people who have endured horrible suffering and yet who have found ways to transform their pain and affliction into wisdom and grace. Elie Wiesel, holocaust survivor…

“I have learned two lessons in my life: first, there are no sufficient literary, psychological, or historical answers to human tragedy, only moral ones. Second, just as despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.”

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"Breathe in suffering...

...Breathe out compassion."

Rob; in Vancouver

“Although the world is full of suffering,

it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

Helen Keller

"Living Well With Cancer"

In April 2003, I gathered with an eclectic community of Christians and Sufi Muslims for a workshop under the leadership of American Sufi Shaikh, Kabir Helminski. Kabir is of the Mevlevi Order, a Sufi tradition tracing its roots to the 13th century Persian poet Rumi. During one lecture Kabir shared a short outline of “5 Spiritual Principles to Live By”.

I was struck by the simplicity of the principles and by the commonality they held with other faith traditions, including my own. Helminski’s 5 principles are:

1. Commit to Your Highest Possibility

2. Awaken Attentiveness and Appreciation

3. Cultivate a Spirit of Gratitude

4. Find the Still Point and

5. Radiate Blessing

Since being diagnosed, I have noticed how many cancer survivors have undergone personal transformations in line with these principles. The result is lives lived with a renewed sense of purpose and a richer appreciation for what is important. Many survivors speak of a deeper authenticity and honesty in their relationships and of a gentler pace of life, with more time spent “smelling the roses”.

I've reflected a little on each of these principles and present them here again as a summary. While I can’t do them justice in this short piece, I do hope that what I offer provides a faithful summary of “Helminski’s Principles” and a worthwhile basis for folks to reflect spiritually on “Living Well With Cancer”.

Be well... Rob; in Vancouver

...next: "Commit to Your Highest Possibility"

Commit to Your Highest Possibility

“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." Treya Killam Wilber

Committing to our highest possibility is about life's purpose and intention. It is to choose LIFE, even in the very imminent face of death itself. It is, for some, “to discover and fulfill their destiny”. It is, for others, “to become who God intended them to be”.

Committing our highest possibility is to live each moment to its fullest. It is to exercise our power of choice towards what is life-giving in the current situation. This universal theme is proclaimed in cultures around the world. The Latin expression Carpe Diem implores us to “seize the day”… for tomorrow we may die. The Japanese have a term, Ichi Nichi, Issho, “one day, one lifetime”, which reminds us to live each day as if our whole life is summed up in it.

I have come to believe that a healthy awareness of the “proximity of death” can lead us to living with a deeper commitment to our highest possibility. Often this means identifying and letting go of the things that are inhibiting us. Too often our lives are clogged and cluttered with the trivial and meaningless. We become limited by “false identities”, we are plagued by fear and anxiety, and we suffer cravings, addictions, and aversions. It’s amazing how quickly we can see and name this stuff for what it is when we become more acutely aware of our mortality. Once we’ve named that which binds us, we can begin the process of relinquishing it and turning towards what gives life.

Sometimes in the cancer journey the highest possibility is directed totally towards our own health and healing. That’s just the way it is. I’ve had to give over huge chunks of my life to coping with surgery and chemo, and to self-care. It has to be recognized that sometimes the "highest possibility" is just getting out for a walk, having a nap, or having a little bite to eat. But sometimes... it is much, much more!

Committing to our highest possibility is a deeply personal matter. It means being true to ourselves in terms of “who we are”, “why we’re here”, and “where we’re going”. It involves discernment in discovering what is important in our lives and how to respond to it. It entails courage and integrity to allow ourselves to be defined by our core values and our "essential self" rather than by the “cookie cutter” identities our culture seeks to impose on us by our roles, occupations, possessions, or physical attributes and deficits.

Living with cancer can help to clarify the vision of our lives, allow us to realize untapped possibilities, free us to live more richly, and to love more deeply… may it be so.

Rob; in Vancouver

“All of us have been dying, hour by hour, since the moment we were born. Realizing this, let all things be placed in their proper perspective… Remember, it is always later than you think. Og Mandino

...next: "Awaken Attentiveness and Appreciation"

Awaken Attentiveness and Appreciation

When the Buddha started to wander around India shortly after his enlightenment, he encountered several men who recognized him to be a very extraordinary being.
They asked him, "Are you a god?"
"No," he replied.
"Are you a reincarnation of god?"
"No," he replied.
"Are you a wizard, then?" "No."
"Well, are you a man?" "No."
"So what are you?" they asked,
being very perplexed.

"I am awake."

To awaken attentiveness and appreciation is to enter in to the realm of “mindfulness”. It is about being intentionally aware of thoughts and actions in the present moment. It is also about seeing deeply into the nature of things and perceiving and appreciating the connections that exist between all things. I see this happening at an “inner level” as we become more conscious of our mind/body processes, and at an “outer level”, as we develop the “ecological imagination” needed to see our relationship with the environment that surrounds us. These are not separate processes and both are important towards seeing the connections between our mind, body, and the world in which we live and breathe.

Mindfulness figures prominently in new approaches to stress reduction and healing as developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachussetts Medical Center. The application of mindfulness in stress reduction is well covered in Kabat-Zinn’s book “Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain and Illness”. Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as:

“…moment to moment awareness. It is cultivated by purposefully paying attention to things we ordinarily never give a moments thought to. It is a systematic approach to developing new kinds of control and wisdom in our lives, based on our inner capacities for relaxation, paying attention, awareness, and insight.”

Kabat-Zinn describes our usually encumbered minds as often preoccupied with regrets over the past and worry and anxiety over the future. This can be particularly true when we are suffering an illness such as cancer. Our minds become literally flooded with worries, fears, fantasies, and plans related to our diagnosis, treatments, and the possible course of the disease. The result is that we live in a state of unawareness, or un-mindfulness.

“When unawareness dominates the mind, all our decisions and actions are affected by it. Unawareness can keep us from being in touch with our own body, its signals and its messages. This in turn can create many physical problems for us, problems we don’t even know we are generating ourselves. And living in a chronic state of unawareness can cause us to miss much of what is most beautiful and meaningful in our lives.” Jon Kabat-Zinn

Awakening attentiveness and appreciation involves a discipline, or practice, of clearing our minds and bringing our attention to where it is needed, beginning with our breath. Mindfulness meditation, a practice that derives from the Buddhist tradition, is used to develop a deeper and more focused capacity for awareness and attention.

Awakening attentiveness allows us to enter into a deeper level of self awareness about our mind/body, its relationship to the environment, and its healing needs. It also leads us to places of profound awe and wonder as we begin to appreciate anew the incredible miracle of creation and life.

Rob; mostly napping; in Vancouver

“Mindfulness is the aware, balanced acceptance of the present experience. It isn't more complicated that that. It is opening to or receiving the present moment, pleasant or unpleasant, just as it is, without either clinging to it or rejecting it.” Sylvia Boorstein

...next: "Cultivate a Spirit of Gratitude"

Cultivate a Spirit of Gratitude

“Gratitude is not only
the greatest of virtues,

but the parent of all the others.”

Cicero

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An “attitude of gratitude” emerges naturally when we’ve taken the time to be attentive to, and appreciative of, life’s many gifts and blessings. Even in the midst of illness or trial, the heart responds with gratitude to gifts that embody love and blessing.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie

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For me, the practice of gratitude begins with this little lump of clay, my body… this incredible creation of earth, wind, water, and fire! Plagued, scarred, and diseased as it may be, it is still an awesome miracle in all of its mid-life glory!

“Real life isn't always going to be perfect or go our way, but the recurring acknowledgement of what is working in our lives can help us not only to survive but surmount our difficulties.”

Sara Ban Breathnach

I Give thanks for the gift of this day and for all of the possibility and potential it holds. I give thanks for the incredible blessing of love I have through family and friends and for the generosity and compassion of my church community.

I give thanks for the skill and the knowledge of my doctors, nurses and medical technicians; for the technology that makes cancer more treatable every day; and for a medical system in which access to care isn’t based on an ability to pay! I give thanks for the tears and the laughter that make life bearable even when the challenges of the day seem unbearable.

I give thanks for the patience, the humour, the strength, the wisdom, and the grace that are needed to face this journey afresh each day. In all these things, and so much more, I am richly blessed!

With thanks… Rob; in Vancouver

“A sacred illness is one that educates us and alters us from the inside out, provides experiences and therefore knowledge that we could not possibly achieve in any other way, and aligns us with a life path that is, ultimately, of benefit to ourselves and those around us.”

Deena Metzger

...next: "Find the Still Point"

Find the Still Point

"Come and find the quiet center
in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter,
find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter,
clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter,
be at peace, and simply be."
Shirley Erena Murray


Our body and soul need times of quiet and rest to be whole and healthy. If this is true in our times of health… how much more so in times of healing and recovery! Finding the still point is about finding those quiet moments and places of stillness where we can regain a sense of equilibrium and help to create conditions more favourable to healing.

“Discontent creates a flurry of distraction in the mind. Worry, anxiety, doubt are just a few of the conflicting emotions that arise to erode my self-confidence. Focusing upon what is true offers me the opportunity to change my circumstances.” Sylvia Boorstein

Cancer came into my life with all manner of tyranny! Physical pain and bodily dysfunction; endless tests, scans, and appointments; relentless treatment schedules and debilitating side-effects; and a never-ending treadmill of anxious emotions and thoughts put cancer in the swirling center of a life that no longer seemed my own. Finding the “still point” in this vortex of crisis has been, and remains, an ongoing challenge.

“In the sweet territory of silence we touch the mystery. It's the place of reflection and contemplation, and it's the place where we can connect with the deep knowing, to the deep wisdom way.” Angeles Arrien

It is in times like this that I really appreciate the gifts that my faith tradition has provided. Particularly in its emphasis on Sabbath rest and in the many traditions it offers in the way of prayer and contemplation. Activities which have helped me to find the “still point”, time and time again, have included prayer and meditation, tai chi, healing touch, worship, long walks in the forest and along the seashore, reading and journaling, playing the guitar, and listening to music. I’ve enjoyed these activities both in solitude and in the company of friends and mentors.

Finding the “still point” grounds me in the landscape of God’s living presence and reminds me that all shall be well. Yah…

Deep peace to you... Rob

"There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden, or even your bathtub." Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

... next: "Radiate Blessing"

Radiate Blessing

“Blessing is a relationship between equals. When you bless others— you realize that your life matters. The people you bless can make you immortal."

Rachel Naomi Remen

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Blessing has to do with the richness and abundance of life. To be blessed is to be “full of life” in all of its wonder and grace. To bless another is to enrich their lives with gifts of goodness, truth, or beauty. The call to “radiate blessing” is a summons to let our gratitude spill over into generosity. Radiating our blessing may take the form of compassionate action or service towards another. It may be a sharing of knowledge, experience or wisdom. Or it could be a joining with others in seeking peace, justice or healing.

Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen is a leader in the realm of “integrative medicine” and author of “Kitchen Table Wisdom” and “My Grandfather’s Blessing” http://www.rachelremen.com/. Her thoughts on “blessing” are some of the most inspiring I’ve read. A sampling…

“A woman once told me that she did not feel the need to reach out to those around her because she prayed every day. Surely, this was enough. But a prayer is about our relationship to God; a blessing is about our relationship to the spark of God in one another. God may not need our attention as badly as the person next to us on the bus or behind us in line in the supermarket. Everyone in the world matters, and so do their blessings. When we bless others, we offer them refuge from an indifferent world.”

 "We bless the life around us far more than we realize. Many simple, ordinary things that we do can affect those around us in profound ways: the unexpected phone call, the brief touch, the willingness to listen generously, the warm smile or wink of recognition. All it may take to restore someone's trust in life may be returning a lost earring or a dropped glove."

So there you have it. "Commit to the highest possibility"; "awaken attentiveness and appreciation"; "cultivate a spirit of gratitude"; "find the still point"; and "radiate blessing". Living fully, with or without cancer, is as simple, and as difficult, as that!

Peace and Blessings… Rob; in Vancouver


"I expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to a fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." Stephen Grellet

What's Your Worldview on Cancer

Ken and Treya Wilber, based on their own particular experiences, have identified a number of different meanings and judgments that society assigns to illness based on a variety of “worldviews”. A worldview is simply an overall perspective by which one views and interprets the world. This is not an inclusive list by any means, but it provides a good basis for reflection on the types of “worldview” that inform our own judgements and meanings about cancer and other illnesses.

1. Christian: The fundamentalist message: Illness is basically a punishment from God for some sort of sin. The worse the illness, the more unspeakable the sin.
2. New Age: Illness is a lesson. You are giving yourself this disease because there is something important you have to learn from it in order to continue your spiritual growth and evolution. Mind alone causes illness and mind alone can cure it...
3. Medical: Illness is fundamentally a biophysical disorder, caused by biophysical factors (from viruses to trauma to genetic predisposition to environmental triggering agents). You needn't worry about psychological or spiritual treatments for most illnesses, because such alternative treatments are usually ineffectual and may actually prevent you from getting the proper medical attention.
4. Karma: Illness is the result of negative karma; that is, some non-virtuous past actions are now coming to fruition in the form of a disease. The disease is "bad" in the sense that it represents past non-virtue; but it is "good" in the sense that the disease process itself represents the burning up and the purifying of the past misdeed; it's purgation, a cleansing.
5. Psychological: As Woody Allen put it, "I don't get angry; I grow tumors instead." The idea is that, at least in pop psychology, repressed emotions cause illness. The extreme form: Illness as death wish.
6. Gnostic: Illness is an illusion. The entire manifest universe is a dream, a shadow, and one is free of illness only when one is free form illusory manifestation altogether, only when one awakens form the dream and discovers instead the One reality beyond the manifest universe. Spirit is the only reality, and in Spirit there is no illness…
7. Existential: Illness itself is without meaning. Accordingly it can take any meaning I choose to give it, and I am solely responsible for these choices. Men and women are finite and mortal, and the authentic response is to accept illness as part of one's finitude even while imbuing it with personal meaning.
8. Holistic: Illness is a product of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual factors, none of which can be isolated from the others, none of which can be ignored. Treatment must involve all of these dimensions...
9. Magical: Illness is retribution. "I deserve this because I wished So-and-so would die." Or, "I better not excel too much, something bad will happen to me." Or, "If too many good things happen to me, something bad has to happen." And so on.
10. Buddhist: Illness is an inescapable part of the manifest world; asking why there is illness is like asking why there is air. Birth, old age, sickness, and death--these are the marks of this world, all of whose phenomena are characterized by impermanence, suffering, and selflessness. Only in enlightenment, in the pure awareness of nirvana, is illness finally transcended, because then the entire phenomenal world is transcended as well.
11. Scientific: Whatever the illness is, it has a specific cause or cluster of causes. Some of these causes are determined, others are simply random or due to pure chance. Either way, there is no "meaning" to illness; there is only chance or necessity.

“Grace and Grit: Spirituality and Healing in the Life and Death of Treya Killam Wilber”

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That is quite a list. I resonate mostly with the medical, scientific, existential, and holistic views. Although I come from a scientific background, I generally think the medical/scientific views result in a very “flat-earth” perspective if taken purely on their own. They just deny too many other dimensions of reality. Reason and experience suggest there must be “more”. The holistic worldview accepts the reality of the medical/scientific views while also affirming the mind/body connection and allowing for psychological and spiritual dimensions. An integrated approach to healing is rooted in this worldview. My “existential” side believes that human beings naturally seek to find meaning in their experiences. Otherwise existence collapses down to a meaningless void in the midst of a cynical world where “nothing means nothing”.

My worldview is also informed by a Christian perspective, although it bears no resemblance to that noted above. The Christian view articulated above is really quite medieval and isn’t commonly held in most of the church communities I’ve known or belonged to (Thank God!). Most Christians actually hold much more enlightened and compassionate views more in line with the life and teachings of Jesus. Regrettably, the view as expressed above does persist in some Christian fundamentalist communities. It’s the type of negative view that leads to the stigmatizing of illnesses.  And, sadly, the stigmatizing of Christianity!  Enough said!!

What’s your worldview on cancer? Are there any in this list that define your beliefs? Feel free to comment.

That’s all folks… Rob; in Vancouver

“Unfortunately, our senses are limited, therefore our view of the world is limited. This is not a problem unless we start believing that what we perceive is all there is to be perceived. It is not.” Peter McWilliams

originally posted in July 2007

Illness vs Sickness

Ken Wilber, in reflecting on his wife’s experience of cancer in “Grace and Grit: Spirituality and Healing in the Life and Death of Treya Killam Wilber” makes the distinction between the physical dimensions of cancer, the “illness”, and the social dimensions, the “sickness”. In Ken’s word’s…

"In any disease, a person is confronted with two very different entities. One, a person is faced with the actual disease process itself... Call this aspect of disease "illness". Cancer, for example, is an illness, a specific disease with medical and scientific dimensions…

But two, the person is also faced with how his or her society or culture deals with that illness – with all the judgements, fears, hopes, myths, stories, values, and meanings that a particular society hangs on each illness. Call this aspect of disease "sickness". Cancer is not only an illness, a scientific and medical phenomenon; it is also a sickness, a phenomenon loaded with cultural and social meanings…"   Ken Wilber

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As a person living with cancer I can relate to what Ken is talking about. To be diagnosed with CANCER is to be subject to all kinds of assumptions, presumptions, perceptions, prognoses, and judgements based on what folks believe about cancer. I don’t think this happens in a malicious or even a conscious way, it just kind of happens as people and groups of people begin to make judgements about you based on their particular beliefs about cancer and the world.

Stigma
When a culture, or community, views an illness in a negative light, "stigma" results. The very identity of a person is transformed in a negative way based on society’s judgements and assumptions. This is most particularly true today of HIV/AIDS, addictions, and mental health illnesses.

The stigmatizing of cancer persists in our society as well. Many cancer survivors will speak of friends and colleagues avoiding them, of prospective employers shying away, or of people discounting their potential and devaluing their gifts because they have, or had, cancer. To be stigmatized is to be aware of a social process that has somehow judged us negatively, identified us as "sick" and "separated" us from the rest of the group.

I’m personally lucky in that, for the most part, I’m connected with people and communities that view cancer in a positive and supportive light. But there are many “worldviews” in our society which contribute to the stigmatizing of people with various illnesses, including cancer. Worldviews which see illness as punishment, or the consequence of “sin”, or because of “wrong thinking” do much to devalue the identity of those with the illness. Likewise there are many worldviews which contribute to a positive understanding of illness. Most of us are influenced by a number of these different ways of thinking. But that’s another post entirely… perhaps tomorrow.

TTFN… Rob; in Vancouver

“I thought during the first part of Treya's life her strength came from her being able to fight. Now, I thought, it started to come from her being able to surrender."  Ken Wilber

originally posted in July 2007

Sweet Hour of Prayer

There’s a great scene in the Lucy Maude Montgomery classic “Anne of Green Gables” where Marilla is teaching Anne how to pray after she and her brother Matthew have taken her in.

Marilla decided that Anne's religious training must be begun at once. Plainly there was no time to be lost.

"You must say your prayers while you are under my roof, Anne."

"I'd do anything to oblige you. But you'll have to tell me what to say for this once. After I get into bed I'll imagine out a real nice prayer to say always. I believe that it will be quite interesting, now that I come to think of it."

"Why, of course, if you want me to," assented Anne cheerfully.

"You must kneel down," said Marilla in embarrassment.

Anne knelt at Marilla's knee and looked up gravely. "Why must people kneel down to pray?" If I really wanted to pray I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd go out into a great big field all alone or into the deep, deep, woods, and I'd look up into the sky--up--up--up--into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I'd just FEEL a prayer. Well, I'm ready. What am I to say?"…

… "You're old enough to pray for yourself, Anne," she said finally. "Just thank God for your blessings and ask Him humbly for the things you want."

I’ve always chuckled at Marilla’s description of prayer. It reminds me a little of an old Flip Wilson quip… “Hey you all, I’m gonna pray now. Anybody want anything?” Unfortunately, things don’t always turn out the way we want.

"Just thank God for your blessings and ask Him humbly for the things you want.."

Sunday blessings... Rob; in Vancouver

“Our ordinary views of prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer as a means for getting something for ourselves; the Bible idea of prayer is that we may get to know God.” Oswald Chambers