Grow Through Cancer

You have cancer, or are supporting someone who does. You’re scared, determined, overwhelmed, and searching. You may be asking “Why me?” or simply wondering what role spirituality plays in fighting this disease. That’s why you’re here, reading this first blog post. Welcome.

I am a four-time cancer survivor and spiritual counselor at a major cancer center. My goal is to help you harness spirituality so you not only go through cancer, you grow through cancer – using this crisis to heal your heart and transform your life, as well as to improve your prognosis.

If you’re like many, you may not consider yourself spiritual, let alone religious. So let’s start there.

1. 1. We’re all spiritual. The reason I state this may surprise you: your spirituality is determined by your love, not your belief. All healthy spiritual traditions emphasize this, and it’s at the heart of what Jesus taught: love God, and love others. There is no greater teaching. That being said…
   2. Belief matters, but it’s not what you think. Our culture emphasizes reason, and as a result we tend to think about our faith more than experience it with our whole being. Yet, when Jesus said believe in me, he meant believe into me. Fuse your consciousness with the Divine. We do this through love.
   3. It’s not about if there is a God or not. In fact, let’s put God aside for a moment. The real question is “What is consciousness?” This is the greatest mystery to science, and something quantum physics points to as the foundation of reality itself. Which means you are more than your body, and are linked to that ultimate Awareness.
   4. Spirituality helps. Studies show that those with a healthy spirituality cope better through cancer treatment and live longer. Other studies show that a strict religiosity based more in fear than love impairs coping and survival. I would emphasize that love, in all this, refers not to an emotion, but to the highest state of consciousness we are evolving into.
   5. Focus on the love. Because God is love, as you do this you will be taking the wisest and most powerful step in activating the power of spirituality in your healing. And this is true even if you don’t believe in God.

I will explore all this and more through this blog, and in my forthcoming book, Beyond Surviving: Cancer and Your Spiritual Journey. In it you’ll discover how others have engaged spirituality by addressing the unfinished love in their lives, and applying the wisdom of compassion to their storm of fear. You’ll read of how my own cancer journey, along with theirs, confirms there is a vibrant spiritual dimension supporting us all the way. And you’ll see how we are so much more than flesh and blood – we are eternal consciousness incarnate.

Cancer is inviting you (or dragging you) to get to work on healing more than your body. And it is my privilege to help you in not only going through cancer, but growing through it as well.

Question: How can you use the crisis of cancer to amplify your love?

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