Years ago, a mother and daughter came to me seeking adjunctive cancer care.
Both mother and daughter had Stage 4 breast cancer that had progressed to their bones and brains. They had discontinued the conventional treatment that had failed them, and were looking for alternative paths to move on.
I recommended a number of treatments, most of which they rejected. Amazingly, neither mother or daughter were experiencing pain. When I asked how it was possible, they confided that they were sustained by their faith in God.
They told me that they were part of a close-knit community of committed Christians who cared and prayed for them, even as they, too, were deeply engaged in service and caring for and praying for others.
The weeks turned to months and years, and still they were active and to all appearances well, even though their bodies continued to harbor multiple tumors.
They moved away and we lost touch, but I vividly remember the mother and daughter whose faith convinced them that God would not have placed them in this situation, if it was not for their highest good.
Those of us who have committed ourselves to a serious spiritual practice are sustained by a conviction that wherever we find ourselves is where we need to be, and that every circumstance of our lives is divinely intended to give us opportunities to expand our hearts.
Speaking of our faith in rational terms is a reasonable first step, but there will be times when our faith is tested, and cancer diagnosis is a doozy of a spiritual test.
Cancer strikes fear in the stoutest heart. I doubt that anyone would choose cancer as a spiritual growth path. Yet many of our patients tell us they’ve been transformed by the experience of dealing with cancer.
A current Stage 4 patient of ours inspires us every time she visits our office. She beams her heartfelt smiles and tells us how blessed she feels.
She has expressed the same joyful attitude through multiple hospitalizations and procedures. There is no aura of victimhood about her, and she never disparages the conventional treatments she’s endured. She feels her chemotherapy and surgical interventions are blessed by God, no less than her Vitamin C infusions and supplements.
She feels blessed to be able to cheer up our patients and cheer them on, and to offer solace wherever it’s needed.
Our cancer patients who seem to do extremely well are never praying that their cancer be miraculously removed, but that they might align themselves more perfectly with God’s will, and express more fully His love and compassion.
We’ve seen how these wonderful patients are healed on deep levels of their being, and how, on admittedly rare occasions, their cancers have miraculously vanished.
Read more about Dr. Connie’s work HERE.