There are few things more devastating than hearing that you, or a loved one has cancer, and this frightening reality would soon hit home. At this point I would also like to point out, that even after decades of the Word of Faith bunch's teachings, that even many of them have succumbed to, and continue to exhibit a host of cancers, and other aliments such as heart failure, and yes, they even die from them. Shouldn't there logically be an absence of these types of illnesses, if their teachings are true? I mean let's just think about this for a minute shall we? I have some questions.
- Why do these things even come upon them, if they don't confess them in the first place?
- Why doesn't Satan flee and the sickness vanish after standing in faith, and resisting him?
- Would the sick person have fully recovered on faith alone, as opposed to using medical intervention?
A couple of years after her heart scare, my mom started to exhibit a lack of mobility in her left arm, and then it progressed to her left leg. That alarmed me a little being that the trouble was on her left side - the heart side. She claimed she had injured herself at work, but refused to see a doctor. Typical Word of Faith indoctrination at work - here we go again. Finally, she relented to see a Christian chiropractor. Chiropractic roughly means "done by hand" or "practical hand" in Latin. The idea behind this practice is that when the bodies bones are in alignment, then the body will function properly. Seems to make sense, after all, a pinched nerve is extremely painful and debilitating. Unpinch it, then all is well. Our posture has a great deal to do with how well we function. These days I have mixed feeling about this practice. Is it a legitimate and helpful science, or not? I guess, like everything, it depends on many factors, including the knowledge and skill of the doctor.
Anyway, she went to see the chiropractor and then he called me into his office with a very grave look on his face - yeah that was alarming. There was my mom, sitting in a chair, looking at the floor of the office, and she was slightly nervous. I fixed my gaze back onto the good doctor's solemn face and braced myself for the obviously bad news to come, but I was in no way prepared to hear the words that came from his mouth: "Your mom has a large mass on her left breast." "What?!" My heart sank into the pit of my stomach, but I was calm, strangely, and eerily calm. He then said that she needed medical attention that day, and not to wait, he was sternly adamant in tone and manner - I knew it was very serious. I collected my mom, thanked him for his time and nice prayer, and we walked slowly back to my car. I was in a daze. Yet I had no questions like: "How long have you had this lump?", or "What in the h-e-double toothpick is wrong with you?", or "Why didn't you say something when you first noticed it?" No. I just said, "Wow, I can't believe how calm I am." And my mom tearfully agreed with me in relief.
You know dear reader, as a veteran of many medical tragedies and crises, one would think that by now I would be naturally less prone to freaking out. Even so, I was amazed by my state of calm more than I was eager to find out any information from my mom, because you see, that would entail "negative" confessions. I called the leader of our Bible study and told her what little I knew, and that we would be there that night as usual. I had no idea what was in store for us, my mind was swirling, but I had one seeming lifeline, our Bible study group, once affectionately known to me as - "The Peeps", which I now refer to as "The Coven", but more on that later. The "Peeps" believed as we did, and they understood what needed to be done: positive confession and radical faith. There is a lot to be said for moral support when you are going through a hard time. Really, that is what family and close friends are for, moral and physical support, even if it is some what dysfunctional, it is still a blessing regardless.
Our family went on our scheduled vacation to see Robert's dad and step mom, Beth. I needed to get away for a while, a pleasant distraction. Even so, I was waiting for news from my sister regarding our mom's health status after an impending examination was scheduled. We had a nice family visit, and on the way home I received a tearful call from my younger sister. When Lauri cries, it's really bad! She may be much stronger emotionally than I am, but that doesn't mean she is heartless. I braced myself for the news, literally, I think my knuckles went white as I grabbed onto my seat as I tensed up.
Our family went on our scheduled vacation to see Robert's dad and step mom, Beth. I needed to get away for a while, a pleasant distraction. Even so, I was waiting for news from my sister regarding our mom's health status after an impending examination was scheduled. We had a nice family visit, and on the way home I received a tearful call from my younger sister. When Lauri cries, it's really bad! She may be much stronger emotionally than I am, but that doesn't mean she is heartless. I braced myself for the news, literally, I think my knuckles went white as I grabbed onto my seat as I tensed up.
"The cancer has moved to her brain, that is why she can't move her left side", she sobbed. I closed my eyes fighting the tears and thought, "Oh my God!" The knives of fear, terror, and dread stabbed my soul. I told her I understood, and that we would be home soon. She said brain surgery was scheduled and we would go from there. I did the only thing I could think of doing, I called the leader of the Peeps. In restrained tearful agony, I told her only so much, mostly that it was bad, because as a well trained Word of Faith minion, one must not voice any "negative" confessions or even dare to say the "C" word. I could go on and on and tell you absolutely every agonizing detail of the next two years or so, but I won't. The point is that even at that physically difficult and emotionally trying time, both my mom and I were not yet ready to face the truth. We were living a lie. We were basking in a false light that hid great darkness, a false light that Jesus talked about in Matthew 6:23, and thus we were spiritually lost. Very lost!