tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19802617.post5843896485138352168..comments2024-01-17T04:14:40.892-05:00Comments on A Pastor's Cancer Diary: April 3, 2010 - When All You Have Left Is YourselfCarlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00540884672406337833noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19802617.post-2917512166861242472010-04-03T21:31:23.152-04:002010-04-03T21:31:23.152-04:00Nevertheless, “God has a purpose for them and is i...Nevertheless, “God has a purpose for them and is in control and they don’t have to be. This is where mental health comes from.” Such a strongly-held conviction, the article continues, “frees them and reminds them that their illness can result in ‘something good.’” ended up in my Easter sermon as an example of resurrection!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09569813967172856540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19802617.post-7059496702546562212010-04-03T19:56:46.875-04:002010-04-03T19:56:46.875-04:00I can affirm your post, with a caveat. I have the...I can affirm your post, with a caveat. I have the nagging concern that statistics such as "'A great many recent research studies of spirituality and health . . . conclude that people who follow a particular faith tradition “'need and use fewer health care services because they are healthier, more likely to have intact families to care for them, and have greater social support'” might reinforce the old old prejudice that sin has caused an illness or disability. The modifier, "more likely", will be overlooked by folk who wish to hang their hat on the medical/health version of the "Prosperity Gospel" or who cling to Judeo-Christian beliefs that ignore John 9.* And, of course, I also have to add that there's guilt enough for divorced persons without their thinking that their divorce has contributed to ill-health. In fact, it may have done just the opposite -- in any case, I'd see it as a split-decision.<br /><br />*You KNOW I love the response to "If you prayed hard enough you'd be healed," that goes like this: "If YOU prayed hard enough FOR me, I'd be healed!" ;)<br /><br />Back to those Easter sermons . . .<br />RobinUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09569813967172856540noreply@blogger.com