Bob wrote:You have a great day too, SheWrites.
I'm off to a doctor appointment. When I return later today, I want to address something in wordslinger's link. Specifically this...
"I want to emphasize that I am not referring to the personal religious convictions of millions by which life is made to appear understandable and meaningful. Whether such convictions are accurate or not, they play an important role at the individual level"
I wrote that on the way out to a doctor appointment this morning.
This is the first chance I've had to try to gather my thoughts and try to write this for wordslinger.
One of my best friends, who is about my age, had been healthy all his life.
At Christmas, he had some swelling in his cheek so went to the doctor.
Turned out it was a swollen lymph gland and he was diagnosed with Lymphoma cancer.
As fate would have it, it turned out to be one of the most aggressive cancers. It's called Angioimmunoblastic T-Cell Lymphoma. To make a month long story short, after only a month, he's literally fighting for his life. It's taken over his body.
He's what I call a "jewish type catholic". You won't know that term because I just invented it.
What it means is this. From birth, his Italian upbringing and heritage subjected him to Catholicism like Jews are subjected to Judaism. For some Jews and some Catholics it becomes far more than just religion. It becomes a way of life in just about every sense.
Some rebel against that. But many others like my friend never stray from it.
At least not the religion part. They might become very secular in many ways, but the Catholic religion becomes a part of them. And for my friend, it has become a way to cope with life. It was that for all the time I've known him, long before he got the cancer diagnosis.
It has been the one thing that has helped him cope with very many problems including some really heartbreaking family problems.
And then comes Christmas and the cancer hits him like a tsunami.
When he first was hospitalized, he learned of Frances Xavier Seelos.
No I had never heard the name either. But he is a Catholic Saint who
lived in New Orleans at the time of the Civil War. It is believed that he miraculously was involved in the healing of many who had contracted yellow fever before he himself succumbed to it. That's what made him a Catholic Saint. And down through the years since he died, many claim that using his prayers has continuously healed the sick.
So my friend has now pinned his hopes on a miraculous cure with the help of Saint Seelos.
In the hospital, he asked me to print out a photo of the Seelos shrine in New Orleans which I took to him. And he has been using that with his prayers from the beginning. It's the only hope he has left.
So what is the point of all this for your benefit, wordslinger?
It's that what I quoted from your link and put in bold text is not to be taken lightly. And while I despise some aspects of both religion and organized religion even far more than you do (and trust me I really do); it's a doubled edged sword. Because it's also what my friend needs right now.
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