a grand cosmic light show

Lokah Samastah Sukinho Bhavantu~

May all beings everywhere be happy and free.

 

I'm curious. Do you believe in prayer? In miracles? In magic? What do you think about this?

A friend of mine is being treated for one of those oppositional-defiant cancers that tend to elude treatment. His initial CT scan several months ago already revealed metastatic disease. Two weeks ago he finished his first four cycles of chemo. Last week, he underwent a follow-up scan to see if it was working. 

"You must find the place within yourself

where nothing is impossible."

~Deepak Chopra~

As he was being scanned, four of the holiest women I know were on their knees in prayer for him. His wife and children, friends and family lifted him in prayer, as well.

Because prayer doesn't seem to work very well for me, I sat cross-legged on a rock at a nearby lake, took a couple of slow, deep breaths, and released the growing tension in my chest and throat. I let go of the customary misgivings and preferred expectations I have cultivated my whole life, and I waited. 

This is what came to me:

"No mud, no lotus"

~Thich Nhat Hanh~

A grand cosmic light show. Shower after shower of glittering white light lifting upward, then fading away like falling embers. Like dying cancer cells. I tried to imagine what this would look like on a CT scan. A short circuit somewhere in the system? Electrical interference of some sort? I smiled to think of the chaos that would ensue, the doctor, in his excitement, calling his colleagues over to see what was happening, all of them stunned. Baffled. Mystified.

"Even the smallest shift in perception

can bring about the greatest healing."

~Joshua Kai~

Two days ago, his wife called me with the results of the scan.

"It's gone," she said. "The scan was clear. There was no sign of cancer anywhere."

Wait. What?

She hailed it as a miracle, and attributed it to the grace of God, to all the prayer that had been lifted heavenward that day.

As a physician, I would have voted for the efficacy of modern chemotherapy, but I really wanted to believe our noble universe had something to do with it, or, as quantum physicists believe, that our minds can shape reality, or that there is some other benevolent force at work. Synchronicity, or destiny, or just plain good luck.

 "We are never more than a belief away from

our greatest love, deepest healing, 

and most profound miracles."

~Gregg Braden~

When it comes to healing, what do you think? Is God in charge of it? Does prayer have the power to heal? I know a lot of people who are certain it does.

Can meditation bring about healing? I'd like to think so.

Or is it the sole result of effective therapy? 

We may never know, but one thing is certain. Whether it was the hand of God, or the power of prayer, or the dazzling light show that helped this time, we witnessed a mystery that left all of us stunned. Baffled. Mystified.

Or perhaps we created one.

"The wound is the place

where the light enters you."

~Rumi~

jan