Healing

09/13/11

Spartacus' Actor Andy Whitfield died of Cancer on Sept.11, what did the media do? Portray disease as an enemy that needs to be destroyed.

"fighting a losing battle with cancer. Whitfield, 39, played the title role in ..."

"Spartacus' Andy Whitfield Attacking Cancer "Like a True Champion ..."

"Spartacus: Blood and Sand creator Steven. S. DeKnight wants Andy Whitfield's fans to know the actor is actively fighting the disease."

This perpetuates the idea that declaring WAR on everything is the way to deal with human ills. Although this term refers to the effort to find a cure for cancer and eradicate cancer as a major cause of death. The signing of the National Cancer Act of 1971 by then U.S. President Richard Nixon is generally viewed as the beginning of the war on cancer, though it was not described as a "war" in the legislation itself, as it is commonly thought.

To this date cancer in general remains a major cause of death. According to the article The War on Cancer A Progress Report for Skeptics by Reynold Spector "unlike the successes against heart disease and stroke, the war on cancer, after almost forty years, must be deemed a failure with a few notable exceptions (Watson 2009)... safe therapy of the various cancers is a difficult problem...We don’t even know if the problem is genetic or epigenetic or something totally unknown."

Having worked in a hospital that treats cancer patients in the past, I know it is a difficult subject to tackle. What I have learned in my Jewish Health and Healing courses is that our human limitations and our struggle for finding a cure can take away from making peace with others and our G-d. From what I read about Mr. Whitfield he spent his last moments surrounded by his family and living to the fullest before his passing.

Baruch Ata Adonai, Elohaynu Melech HaOlam, Dayan Ha-Emet.

Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the Universe, the True Judge.

Andy Whitfield (17 July 1972 – 11 September 2011) 8/18/2012
MLK & Heschel

I often talk about the difference between sincere devotion v. spiritual conceit. MLK once spoke about this in one of his speeches, he struggled to convince other religious leaders to not be complacent and speak up against injustice. Although his message has been blurred by contemporary political nonsense. As a theologian influenced by the transcendentalists and Ghandi he knew about the political implications of his actions. If only we would had Christian leaders like him stand up against the Nazi's in a visual way, then maybe oppression of the Jewish population in Eastern Europe would at least had been confronted before the world. That is why the Civil Rights Movement was supported by Abraham Joshua Heschel who some writers are turning into a contemporary liberal.However, having studied many of his works I know he was a moderate but traditional Jewish philosopher who saw an opportunity to stand for righteousness in the 60's when the world was experiencing a major transition in both morality and political struggles.

11/21/2011

Healthy and Unhealthy Forms of Spirituality

As a Jewish Chaplain I have been considering what are healthy and unhealthy forms of spirituality. One factor that is often discussed in Pastoral Care Education is hopefulness as a measuring rod for someone’s spiritual and emotional health. Part of spiritual growth is to know which beliefs are embedded and are we able to reflect on them. Although a child like spirituality is to be admired, this can be a form of regression in the midst of trauma or a cop-out to avoid personal responsibility. As I learn about emotional health from a clinical perspective, the way we manage our emotional responses has a lot to do with our spiritual balance and health. Being able to dialogue about our convictions is an important factor in determining where we are in our faith. Religion is often described as an organized set of beliefs and reflecting about them is what separates the religious/devout from cult-members and fanatics.

My concerns about people’s emotional health in relation to spirituality comes from a desire to help individuals assess what are their unassailable beliefs and which beliefs can be altered, changed or challenged.

I do not intent to criticize someone’s devotion but measure the depth of the commitment to their faith. Fundamentalism of any kind is an obsession with a rigid adherence to some principles, manifested in intolerance and opposition to any other view. Any type of hyper-religiosity can be used as a coping mechanism to help minimize important issues and disassociate from reality not allowing ourselves to be vulnerable around others. We should seek to investigate ways to process our emotions and see how it affects us spiritually.

Having a healthy self-supervision of your feelings and emotions enables us to question our own behaviors and explore the way we live out our lives of holiness. The degree of inner resolution, committed to our spiritual beliefs and our understanding of our unassailable belief can help us grow spiritually.

Although Judaism is a made up of a set of beliefs, it focuses on G-d and our relationship to him through descriptions– not doctrines or definitions. A well integrated or holistic Jew is capable of operating independently from extremist or lackadaisical views of Judaism.

Jewish Spirituality deals with G-d’s immanence, the transcendental, existential and experiential. Spirituality is usually defined as the aspects of humanity which refers to quest for meaning. While Jewish religious practice addresses the common factors that frame our behavior, which are part of a collective worldview. The communal origin of religion comes from the act of binding together, collecting and solidifying and internalizing a deep inner essence of who we are in relation to tradition.

What makes Judaism a world religion and not a cult is that it although there are extremists within the religious system; Judaism does not seek to be unconventional in an authoritarian way or is in favor of obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle or thing like cults do. Jewish philosophy helps clarify this difference as it provides individuals the ability to not have to approach faith and reason as an either/ or approach. When human understanding appears to conflict with a traditional understanding of religious tradition, rational truth is explored to help us find new conclusions and allow the meaning of religious challenges to be informed by Jewish texts and our inner convictions in relation to G-d.

By recognizing the inherent challenges presented in modern life and the outside world we can grow to be secure in our faith and promote and uphold Judaism and Jewish tradition at the same time. A well integrated individual understands that history, textual criticism, science, and philosophical inquiry are all part of the nature of G-d’s revelation and interaction with the world. It recognizes the validity of Jewish practice and Jewish texts as indispensable aspects of Jewish identity.