From: psb@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Jr Phillip S Buckland)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: healing statistics
Date: 26 Aug 92 06:23:01 GMT
Organization: Kansas State University

U16028@uicvm.uic.edu writes:

>My mother just died on Friday, August 21, of complications due to cancer.
>She had been disgnosed with an ulcer in December, '91 which proved to
>later be a lymphoma.

	My mother died in September of 1980 of complications due to cancer
	("officially" resperatory failure) at age 42.

>We are a family of strong faith in God. We all prayed for her recovery.
>We had friends praying, strangers praying, members of religious orders
>praying, all for her recovery, but always with "Thy will be done".

	We were a family of divided faith until shortly before her cancer
	was diagnosed.  We were unfamiliar with the pentecostal movement
	since our background to that point was independent christian church/
	church of christ (noninstrumental).

	Her cancer was undifferentiated, meaning that the doctors could not
	offer any prognosis w.r.t. standard treatments.  She opted for
	a homeopathic treatment which ultimately failed.  We sought the
	prayers of our church elders and their annointing her with oil as
	mentioned in James 5:14-15, but they refused.  We had leaders of the
	pentecostal church we visited do it instead.

	If memory serves, our contact was primarily with the "name it and
	claim it" facet of pentecostalism, and which God fortunately cured
	me of during a walk home one day.  You see, I was *ordering* God
	around rather than submitting myself to His will.  Not a good thing
	at all.

>She was supposed to have a 95% chance at a cure.  The oncologist was
>very optomistic.  It was supposed to be a relatively mild form of cancer,
>one that responded quite well to standard chemotherapies.

	When the biopsy was performed, the doctor expected to find a benign
	growth since the tumor was completely encapsulated.  No joy.

	A modified radical mastectomy was later performed.  The tumors
	reappeared within 5 weeks at the same site (right atop the
	pectoral muscle on the chest wall).

>Needless to say, nothing worked.  My mother, who was a kind gentle as they
>come, was subjected to incredible pain and agony.  Our family was subject
>to the unrelenting torture of watching her waste away, helpless except for
>our faith and belief that God's will would be done.

	Nothing worked for my mother, either.  Her battle lasted three years,
	1.5 to 2 years of it being hard fought.  Since no conventional
	treatments were performed, the tumor was quite massive (and visible)
	at the time of her death.

>I prayed.  I prayed.  I begged and pleaded.

	Ditto.

>And she died.

	Ditto.

>Now all I can do is wail and gnash my teeth.

	Not ditto.  My comfort came from I Thess 4:13-18.  To wit:

		"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant
		about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like
					     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
		the rest of men, who have no hope.  We believe
		^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
		that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe
		that God will bring with Jesus those who have
		fallen asleep in him.  According to the Lord's
		own word, we tell you that we who are still
		alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord,
		will certainly no tpreceed those who have fallen
		asleep.  For the Lord himself will come down from
		heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of
		the archangel and with the trumpet call of God,
		and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After
		that, we who are still alive and are left will
		be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the
		Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord
		forever.  Therefore, encourage one another with
			  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
		these words."
		^^^^^^^^^^^

	My grief over my mother's death was different that what I
	expected it would be.  I was prepared for it in that I knew
	she would die and in that I understood the different aspects
	of the grieving process as identified in clinical studies by
	Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her book "On Death and Dying".  I had
	undergone the denial, anger, bargaining, and depression *prior*
	to her death and was left with just accepting (indeed, by this
	time in her sufferring, welcoming her release through death).
	In a way, my experience has parallels with King Saul's experiences
	after he had been confronted with his sins of adultery and murder.
	When his firstborn of Bathsheba died, he immediately accepted it
	and went on (even though his servants expected him to take the
	news hard since his grief prior to this time had been made quite
	evident).

	The hand of the Lord rested upon our home in the hours immediately
	following my mother's death.  So powerful was his peace upon us that
	those entering our home to remove her body or to comfort us remarked
	upon it (the peace, that is), _even those without faith in God_.

	Also of comfort is Phil. 4:6-7:

		"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,
		by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your
		requests known to God.  And the peace of God, which
					^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
		transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts
		^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
		and minds in Christ Jesus.
		^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

>Why did he abandon me?

	He didn't.  From Psalm 139:7-12:

		"Where can I go from your Spirit?
		   Where can I flee from your presence?
		 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
		   If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
		 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
		   if I settle on the far side of the sea,
		 even there your hand will guide me,
		   your right hand will hold me fast.

		 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
		   and the light become night around me,"
		 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
		   the night will shine like the day,
		   for darkness is as light to you."

	See also I Kings 19 for how God dealt with Elijah's feelings
	of abandonment which followed on the heels of his most stunning
	success as a prophet.

>Terry

	I'd be glad to correspond with you via E-mail in greater depth,
	if you wish.


We read the world wrong		| Phil Buckland
and say that it deceives us.	| psb@eece.ksu.edu
Tagore, from Stray Birds	| psb@matt.ksu.ksu.edu