"There will always be loss and grief. I know, however, that out of pain new love and true healing can occur. One must learn to use one's pain for personal transformation, or longevity will be no gift." Bernie Siegel Doctors and patients spend huge amounts of money, time and energy searching for the causes of disease. Most of our efforts are expended looking for the physical sources of human problems. Alas, the search is futile. It is pretty well accepted that most modern ailments have some stress-induced component. Add to that fact the knowledge that many of our most worrisome diseases are attributable to alcohol, tobacco, drug, and food abuse. The remaining conditions are largely related to the wear and tear of the years and the preliminaries to our departures from bodies. We ought to remember that, "As a (wo)man thinketh in the heart, so is (s)he." Thence we may recognize that these stresses and abuses arise but from within our own selves. The bottom line behind most all of them is fear. Out of fear of one kind or another, we misdirect our energies and strengths and create pain instead of beauty in our bodies, our lives, our families, and our communities. This predicament can only be remedied as we stop worrying and work at developing the will to share and give freely of our best in line with the teachings of the ancients: "If you do not bring forth that which is within you, that which is within you will destroy you. If you bring forth that which is within you, that which is within you will save you." The Gospel of Thomas The cyclic, circular nature of fear is bolstered by the whole of our society and not least by the medical community which goes to great trouble to "reassure" us by doing incredible numbers of expensive and usually needless tests and procedures. Fear is commonly the cause of an office or hospital visit. Fear is generally the reason for a doctor's extensive diagnostic and therapeutic efforts. Yet, this situation seems fitting for the time and hearkens to the words of 19th century British prime minister, Lord Salisbury: "No lesson seems to be so deeply inculcated by experience of life as that you should never trust experts. If you believe doctors, nothing is wholesome; if you believe theologians, nothing is innocent; if you believe soldiers, nothing is safe." Fear of aging and death is the final looming fear which we all must face. Hopefully in the coming times, we will recognize and understand the eternal ebb and flow of existence, loose the fear of our inevitable transitions, and consciously make preparations for the next dimension. Physician, ministers, and even warriors will one day admit that there is no death, only change of states of being. We will also prove the truth of the Biblical admonition: "Perfect love casteth our fear." Let us leave fear and disease to their own demise so that we may express love and joy and health in abundance. |