Thinking about Cancer

I miss the friends I once had who all died of the dis-ease of cancer--my girlfriend Eunice Wilson (2 years ago) who was my best friend for 18 years and who swore I was black in a former life; both godparents to my daughter who willed their property to her and in whose house I have taken up residence as its temporary housekeeper; and my quilting friend Mildred who died this year of lung cancer (big-time smoker) and who was the happiest person in her dying days I have ever known. On one of my last visits with her, I expressed my wish that she could have given up smoking to which she replied, "Well, I did give up cussin'." She showed me how to laugh at death. She was not afraid to leave her body. Eventually, we have to let go of everything, including our bodies.

A spiritual teacher has given some advice on how to respond when our bodies are diseased.

"When your body is sick it needs the help of a strong mind to repair it. Your fear worsens the situation; fear makes the body weaker. Fear is not in the body. Fear is in your mind. When you don't accept what is happening in the body, and when you identify yourself as the body, the fear comes. You have to transcend the limitation of identifying with the body. The body might undergo difficult situations. It's like your car: If you have trouble with the car, what would you do? You take the car to the repair shop and get it repaired. But you don't think you are being repaired--you are not the car! You should always know that the body is just your vehicle; it is not who you are. Then you never need be afraid. "

I guess that's good advice for anyone who has been diagnosed with any disease, including cancer. We are spirits having a human experience and living in bodies while we navigate through our life's experiences.

Some folks at the firm where I work have been diagnosed with various types of cancers. One has left her body already. Others may choose to remain with us for a while if they still have work to do, if they still have a call on their lives, if they still have some mission to fulfill.

Two quotations I have shared with friends speak about the precious and brief moments of our lives.

The day you were born, a ladder was set up
to help you escape from this world.
Keep walking, though there’s no place to get to.
Don’t try to see through the distances.
That’s not for human beings.
Move within, but don’t move the way fear makes you move.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.
Jalâluddîn Rumi

We are travelers on a cosmic journey
stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity.
Life is eternal.
But the expressions of life are ephemeral, momentary, transient.
Gautauma Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, once said,
this existence of ours is as transient as autumn clouds.
To watch the birth and death of beings
is like looking at the movements of a dance.
A lifetime is like a flash of lightning in the sky.
Rushing by like a torrent down a steep mountain.
We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other,
to meet, to love, to share.
This is a precious moment, but it is transient.
It is a little parenthesis in eternity.
If we share with caring, lightheartedness, and love,
we will create abundance and joy for each other.
And then this moment will have been worthwhile…
Deepak Chopra