Faith and Healing

Add a Comment

12 Comments

Comment by Jack on June 1, 2008 at 4:40pm

Looking forward to following this discussion.

Comment by Joel Nowak on May 30, 2008 at 11:23am

I have come to the conclusion that as the Eastern Faiths teach, it is important to stay in the "here and now." At my current age of 56 and being a three cancer survivor (including a recurrence) I have learned not to turn back and waste my energy on the questions like "why me."

From the emotional side, the answer to this type of question just isn't important, it would only be an unnecessary distraction that would only eat at me, sap my energy and upset my family. So, it just doesn't matter to me. I am who I am and I have three cancers, so what.

I would be willing to allow a interested scientist to look back and see there is something in my physical being that lends itself to developing cancer, this might help others to forestall cancer. This would be the only legitimate reason to "look back."

Today is important. Tomorrow is also important, but not as important because I really don't know if tomorrow will come. I can not help but feel that the tomorrows will be more limited then I had hoped for, but I am here today.

So today I feel happy. Today I walk my dog and hear the birds and look at the flowers (isn't spring wonderful). Today I smell the ozone after the thunder storm and feel the rain drops hitting my face. Today I get my shoes muddy and stub my toe. This is all I have, but I have it, I am very aware of it and I relish it.

Comment by Samuel A. (Sam) Cox on May 28, 2008 at 2:00pm

As anyone who has received a traffic ticket is aware, our relationship with the state is very personal indeed! In much the same way, our relationship with the universe we live in is very personal.

We live and exist inside a kind of engineering envelope...a set of restrictions which define what we can and cannot do, how long we live and the way we relate to the inorganic and organic universe...our non-living and living surroundings.

For example, if we jump off a 10 story building, or drive into a tree at 60 MPH, the laws of physics and biology advise us that "the jig is up"!

I want however to stay positive, and point out that there is a very reassuring aspect to the fact that our relationship with the universe is personal. Others depend on us and we depend on them.

An Einsteinian universe is like a great cathedral in Europe. Those of our membership who are not aware, might be interested to know that those buttressed cathedrals are so well engineered that if but one stone was removed, the entire structure could easily collapse.

The real universe, as we measure it to 20 or 30 places anyway, is exactly the same.

Our lives are important. Without us, the universe would not and could not exist as it does. Yes, we have our "place" in space and time...our lifetime....the period between our births and our deaths.

Yet our frame of reference is also eternally invariant. Each of us see life in a different- and important way.

The intuition expressed in all the great religious writings is uniformly profound. The Bible reassures is that before the elements in our bodies ever became "us" that God knew where all the pieces of us were.(Ps 139). We are also advised that the "hairs of our heads are numbered" and that God notes even the fall of a sparrow...sold two for a penny...and that if God so cares even for flowers of the field and sparrows, he cares much more for us.

The universe is demanding yes. But there is something about the universe which is very interlinked, interdependent, caring - and personal in the most intimate sense of that word. I

In fact, all of our experiences in life show is that such things as caring, kindness, forgivenss and personal intimacy are wonders built right into the structure of the reality we inhabit.

If we are rueful at the pain, the brevity of life, and the incongruity of it all, we should remember that we view only a very small cross-section of an eternal reality. We have our place...an important place, but we are only a part...an interdependent part of what is.

Hence we need to learn and apply as much as we can about the universe, but we also need to learn to trust. In the end, whether we are people of faith or not, the universe COMPELS us to have faith. We can have faith earlier- or later. Personally, what I have learned about the universe and human relations inclines me to believe that the precious combination of learning, wisdom, trust and faith- which lead to a satisfactory life adjustment- is best attained as early in ones life as possible.

Comment by Samuel A. (Sam) Cox on May 16, 2008 at 3:37pm

I've been looking over the groups and they have not been explosively active! It reminds me of what the good Dr told me after she treated my G-9 cancer with radiation: "Get out of my office, and get on with your life!"...good advice and related to my recent post on the importance of a good attitude. I think most everybody around here has definately caught on long ago!

Knowing you are going to die is a "no brainer". Of course we are all going to die! So, what else is new? Our interest as prostate cancer victims is the same as (at least most of) the general population- to make sure we die later rather than sooner!

I hope everyone is coming along well!

Comment by Samuel A. (Sam) Cox on May 15, 2008 at 2:47pm

I appreciated Dr. Krongrad's remarks. He is obviously (he can correct me if my assumtion is wrong) looking for scientific evidence that faith and spirituality influence (the pronosis?) in prostate cancer.

We all are aware of the genetic factor in the disease, both regarding the predisposition toward contracting it and the ability of a particular immune system to fight the disease, and prolong life in the process.

My father was diagnosed terminal with Prostate Cancer in the mid 1980's when he was 66. He had multiple bone metatastic developments...in layman's terms...his bone scan "lit up like a Christmas tree".

He was given 6 months to live, yet with only primitive Estrogen therapy lived an additional 7 years- 6 with a decent quality of life.

Genetics is important, yes. However in the management of any "affliction", including life itself, attitude is critical...not only to the period of survival, but also to the quaity of life the "victim" experiences. I don't really care for the word "victim"...consider it semantically unsound, because life, and the afflictions it brings also challenge us, and give us new opportunities.

Attitude is related to religious outlook. Many people who are in perfectly good health kill themselves...waste a perfectly good body, because they are not emotionally equiped, for one reason or another, to cope with the challenges of life.

I don't like to use the word "amused", but I was reading one prostate cancer victims notes in which he told of his advanced disease, and then related that his family had shown little or no interest in him. That man's largest problem in life was NOT Prostate Cancer!

In a similar way, I think less religious and spiritually committed people people are somewhat disadvantaged by their world life view, in which the universe is often feral and uncaring.

If Einstein is even half-right, our life here on Earth is important in many ways, but especially to ourselves! I'm not going to get too technical, but in an inversely mapped bifid universe wirth energy and information conservation...electromagnetically experienced at invariant frames of reference in extreme gravitational time dilation, we are not temporally, but rather eternally eternally forced to contend with what the universe has bestowed upon us.

This makes our attitude very important. In fact, our attitude is a part of a quasi-religious process by which we understand the importance and interdependence of existence and the permanence of existence...a process which,when utilized, makes our fullest and happiest existence possible.

Comment by Angela Jenkins on April 29, 2008 at 3:00pm

Jim - welcome to the group! This is a great network to share our experiences with others.

Comment by Jim Borgmann on April 29, 2008 at 2:39pm

Going back to the original question...how do you deal with people who say a prayer for you or offer a mass for you? Real simple...you say "Thank You" and leave it at that. We need all the caring people we can get in our short lives here on planet Earth, so thank them for caring and move on. I for one am glad that Dr. Krongrad is the caring doctor that he is and that his staff are also truly caring people. Now I am prostate cancer free and have three new friends. Pretty good deal if you ask me!

Comment by Angela Jenkins on April 17, 2008 at 1:20pm

Therein lies the truth of the matter - without hope, where do we go? What would we do? Job 11:18 says “Having hope will give you courage.” That’s what we need during these difficult times facing prostate cancer– the courage to stay positive and find the answers we need – not to give in to doubts and fears. Dealing with cancer is a hard journey to walk, but with hope, we wake up each day with a fresh perspective that it’s going to be okay no matter what we face.

Comment by Jackie Kincaid on April 17, 2008 at 9:59am

I know that Faith plays an enormous role in healing. I have seen it first hand. I often wonder how those without Faith come through the horrible trying times that we all go through.
To me no Faith is equal to no hope, and without hope what is there?

Comment by Jimmy Jenkins on April 16, 2008 at 12:25pm

Hope - great to hear from you. Great to know, with prayer, you haven't lost a patient yet! We're looking forward to seeing this network grow and become a great resource for patients, family and professionals.

Shai - welcome to the group! Agreed - faith is definitely important in the healing process.

• 1
• 2