BREAST CANCER: SUPPORT FOR THOSE WHO ARE COMFORTED BY THE STRENGTH OF THEIR OWN BELIEFS
For those who are comforted by the strength of their own beliefs, their already established habits of personal prayer will provide crucial support. What had previously furnished a familiar, stabilizing ritual will now, in time of personal crisis, provide a soothing refuge and a pathway toward healing. You will come to realize, and value, the difference between the concept of cure and that of healing. One can be cured without actually healing, even as one can be helped to heal without actually being cured.
For others who are not in the habit of daily or frequent prayer, the structure of a familiar religious service within one’s own tradition and house of affiliation can be very comforting at this time. Such services may provide a level of grounding and connection to a community of worshipers that offers much-needed comfort. In addition, many religious groups offer specialized services of healing to their congregants on a weekly or monthly basis. Many people find these services to be particularly helpful.
Even the least religious among us might be surprised by the force of the sudden urge to communicate with a higher power or a divine force, in whatever way we may conceive of this. Frequently the usual motivation is to try and strike a bargain. When you are feeling very stressed, and sometimes desperate, you may find yourself pleading and begging with a divine power you have repudiated for many years. You may be truly stunned by the force of your need to feel that you are being heard and listened to and that this, your most urgent request, is being received. This may well be the first time in your life since your childhood that you are asking wholeheartedly for a reprieve—literally, a new lease on life—and the chance to continue living.
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