Connections

The Blog That Builds Hope.

Faith

We are living in a time of a relative explosion of new research and treatment developments that will someday not only treat cancers more effectively, but hopefully prevent them altogether.  Despite modern technology and continued advances in medical care, some truths still hold.  Prior to the development of “modern medicine,” patients had to rely solely on their faith – not only faith in the medical people, but also their faith in God because there was little else to offer at the time.  Nowadays, some of the more open-minded medical professionals are beginning to pay attention and actually study the impact a person’s faith has on the outcome of their health.

Being diagnosed with a disease such as cancer can really test one’s relationship with their family, friends, and their relationship with God.  Many times the “Why me?” question may be extrapolated to include the feelings of punishment for past sins or punishment for not taking care of themselves as they should.  The patient and family may even feel guilty that their faith had not been strong enough or sincere enough to have prevented or cured the illness.  Some of the more open-minded people in the medical profession then raised the question, “If a disease can affect someone’s faith, then can someone’s faith influence the patient’s experience with the disease?”

Three studies done involving several hundred patients may give insight.  The first dealt with the faith of family and friends.  One study was done regarding very ill patients in the intensive care unit.  Patients were randomly assigned to a group of people who would pray for their recovery daily or no prayer group.  That was it.  No other changes in the patients’ care were made.  The patients with the prayer group were found to be able to leave the ICU days sooner and had three times the survival rate of patients without the prayer group.  The second study involved seven hundred heart bypass patients.  Patients who received daily chaplain visits were able to leave the hospital three days sooner on the average than patients with cursory chaplain visits.  The third study was published in December 2001 in the Breast Journal.  It measured how one’s faith can positively improve the immune system, which can help in the ability to fight breast cancer and better tolerate treatment.

There is a difference in faith and belief.  A tightrope walker strung a wire over Niagara Falls between Canada and the U.S. and proceeded to walk across.  He arrived on the Canadian side to a wildly screaming, excited, and relieved audience.  He yelled out, “How many of you believe I can walk back across?”  Everyone yelled their encouragement.  “How many of you believe I can walk back across pushing a wheelbarrow?” shouted the tightrope walker.  Again the crowd in unison encouraged him to go.  He yelled back, “Okay, who will be the first to get in the wheelbarrow?”  Belief is trusting he could walk across the wire.  Faith is getting into the wheelbarrow.  Faith is an act, and many times is most evident or most lacking when we are at our worst.  The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort or convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge or controversy.

The diagnosis of cancer is a severe challenge.  The medical community is seeing though, that apparent impossibilities vanish when a person and his/her God confront a mountain.  Not everyone’s prayer is answered with cure, at least not on this side of the grave.  But prayer is an act of faith, just as love is an act of faith.  Love and prayer may not heal the body, but may heal the broken spirit.  With faith, we trust that when we do what we can, God will do what we cannot.  I believe in God, and I believe the birth of every new child comes with the message that God is not discouraged with us yet.

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