Blog: Are you seeking healing?

When Rev. Ras Smith of Mile Hi Church became seriously ill, he was understandably afraid. He received a very serious diagnosis, and there was a real possibility that he might not survive.

He immediately turned toward spiritual practice. At one point, he realized something profound: he could feel afraid—even panicked—and at the same time know that Spirit was within him, moving through him, and ushering forth his highest good.

That realization changed his attitude.

And, according to Ras, attitude made the difference.

During his long series of treatments, he got to know many of the nurses caring for him. He began asking them what they observed about the people who made it through their illnesses and those who did not. Again and again, they told him that one of the greatest differences they saw was attitude. The people who remained engaged with life and found ways to stay hopeful seemed to navigate their illness differently from those who became overwhelmed by hopelessness.

The mind-body connection was once just an idea. Then it became a theory. Today, we recognize that our mental and emotional states can have a profound impact on our physical well-being.

But this is not about pretending everything is okay.

It is not about denying fear, pain, grief, or uncertainty. And it is certainly not about blaming ourselves when our bodies become ill.

Like Ras, we can feel what we feel—and simultaneously connect with a deeper knowing that Spirit is active within us, even in these circumstances. Spirit is present through the fear and trepidation, through the diagnosis and the treatment, through the illness and whatever comes next.

Miracles happen. Spontaneous remissions happen. Unexpected turnarounds happen. Sometimes the body responds in ways that seem to defy explanation. There is still so much mystery in healing.

And yet, there is something we can participate in.

It has something to do with belief. But belief itself can feel almost involuntary. And don't we all want something we can control?

It is difficult to believe that we can simply control disease through our thoughts. Imagine sitting in the doctor's office immediately after receiving devastating news and calmly declaring, "This situation has no power over me. I am whole, perfect, and complete. Wholeness is expressing through every cell of my body right now."

We may have the capacity to reach that place. But for most of us, the journey begins somewhere else.

It begins with fear.

Then perhaps resignation: This is my new reality.

And eventually, if we are willing, we may discover something deeper: This experience is not the whole of who I am.

If we are true students of the Science of Mind, we can take a more spiritual and, in its own way, scientific approach. We step beyond the immediate evidence of the physical world and enter sacred space.

We do this through ritual—our prayer time, our meditation, communion with nature, contemplative practice, or any other intentional time we set aside to release the practical, earthbound thoughts of the moment and enter the field of infinite possibility.

Whatever ritual we use—and I use the word ritual here simply as another name for spiritual practice—there is no power inherent in the ritual itself.

The ritual points us toward the sacred.

And what is sacred is that place within us where we encounter pure, unconditional Love. I call it Trust, with a capital T.

The ritual gives us a way to release our fixation on our physical experience, even for a few minutes, and turn our attention toward a deeper knowing.

Somewhere beyond the pain, the medications, the medical jargon, and the uncertainty, there is something within us that illness cannot touch.

Our light.

Our wholeness.

Our soul.

Healing, in the deepest spiritual sense, is the process of allowing that ever-present wholeness to become more fully known and expressed in our human experience.

It is not beseeching Spirit to make us whole.

It is remembering that, at the deepest level of our being, we already are.

We have always been. And, we always will be. Whole. Complete. One with the Divine.

Sometimes we simply forget.

We forget that we are more than this moment. More than this diagnosis. More than this body. We forget that we are eternal beings experiencing one moment in the great expanse of eternity.

And we forget that whatever we are going through, we are not going through it alone.

The Divine Intelligence back of everything is with us through all of it. Sometimes the most powerful prayer is not a demand for a particular outcome. Sometimes it is simply:

"Let me rest here for a while, as sweet Spirit ushers forth more good in ways expected and unexpected."

Especially the unexpected.

We can participate in our healing. We can commune with Spirit and discover a power greater than any illness or condition. We can open ourselves to possibilities we cannot yet see.

And sometimes, healing looks like the body changing. Sometimes it looks like strength returning. Sometimes it looks like acceptance, peace, courage, or a new way of living.

Whatever form it takes, we can remember this:

There is a wholeness within us that illness cannot destroy.

Healing begins when we remember it.

And so it is.