Channeling Your Faith
- As Easter approaches, many people reflect on faith and renewal — a practice that becomes especially meaningful for cancer patients seeking grounding during an uncertain time.
- Research shows that spirituality is a powerful coping tool, with 69% of cancer patients reporting they pray for their health, and experts like Dr. Andrew Kneier and Rabbi Jeffery Silberman emphasizing its role in emotional resilience.
- Faith can help patients navigate fear, find direction, and seek deeper healing, offering comfort and clarity as they confront the emotional and physical challenges of a cancer diagnosis.
- “This is what’s so powerful about hardship,” Pastor Evans, pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, says.
- “You think cancer is only going to devastate you, but it’s in those moments you discover how wonderful humanity can be. We watch so much news that we become disillusioned, but in hardship, in cancer, you suddenly see how glorious people really are.”
For many facing cancer, faith isn’t limited to a season; it becomes a steady source of strength throughout the journey.
Read MoreCancer psychologist Dr. Andrew Kneier helped co-author “Coping with Cancer: Ten Steps toward Emotional Well-Being.” He also co-authored a column published by Stanford Medicine with Rabbi Jeffery M. Silberman, director of spiritual care at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut.
Together, they emphasize the deep emotional and psychological support that faith provides to those battling illness.
According to Kneier and Silberman, spirituality offers a powerful coping mechanism, helping individuals navigate the uncertainty that comes with a cancer diagnosis.
“A person’s faith or spirituality provides a means for coping with illness and reaching a deeper kind of inner healing,” they explain.
Faith helps patients in multiple ways, including:
- Seeking answers to the difficult questions illness presents.
- Finding comfort in the midst of fear and pain.
- Gaining a sense of direction during an overwhelming and uncertain time.
Religious teachings, they argue, can serve as a guidepost, offering strength and resilience when navigating the emotional and physical challenges of cancer.
Related: The Triumph of Hope & Faith Renewed. Why Easter is So Heartfelt for Cancer Survivors
‘Faith, Family and Friends’ Helped Beverly Reeves Get Through Ovarian Cancer Treatment
“This is the diagnosis that lasts forever,” Beverly Reeves previously told SurvivorNet of her ovarian cancer diagnosis. “You’re always waiting for the next shoe to drop.”
Ovarian cancer survivor Beverly Reeves discusses the importance of faith.
As she navigated through treatment, she said she leaned on three pillars for support: faith, family, and friends.
Though her faith remained a constant, her family and friends became less of a presence once she completed her initial treatment. Reeves said she needed their support at the end of her cancer battle just as much as she did when she was diagnosed.
Looking back on her cancer journey, Reeves said she had some advice for those who are newly diagnosed: Don’t be embarrassed.
This is a cancer that not a lot of people want to talk about,” she added.
Being open and honest with your loved ones about what you’re going through can help them understand exactly what support you need, so they can provide it.
“Get a strong support group together,” she said. “Get your close friends. If you’re connected to a faith community, get your faith community, and get your family. Let them know what’s going on and let them help you.”
Faith Perspective: Opening Yourself Up to Others After a Cancer Diagnosis
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is a devastating thing. There is no sugarcoating that fact. Hearing such hard news has a tendency to make people want to shut down.
Pastor Tom Evans talks about how channeling your faith can help you open up, rather than shut down, after a cancer diagnosis.
However, reiterating ovarian cancer survivor Beverly Reeves’ message, Tom Evans, pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of New York City, previously told SurvivorNet that it’s during this time that you should try to do the opposite. And channeling your faith, especially this holiday season, can help you open up.
“It’s important to reach out in a simple prayer to God; even if you have never prayed before, you don’t know what to say, a heartfelt plea, ‘God, help me, be with me,” Pastor Evans previously told SurvivorNet.
You can reach out to God, and you can reach out to people, your friends and family, and say, I can’t do this on my own. I need you,” he added. “It’s in that willingness to be open and to receive that we can actually find something deeper that we never would encounter without this hardship.”
Pastor Evans continued, “This is what is so powerful about times of hardship.”
“You think cancer … (is) simply going to be a devastating time,” he added, but in those moments, sometimes you discover how wonderful humanity is. We spend so much time watching the news, and we become so disillusioned with people, but it’s in hardship, it’s in cancer … that suddenly you feel that people are glorious.”
“I truly believe what Paul says: God uses all things for good,’ and God can even use these terrible things, such as a cancer diagnosis … to help you discover the wonder and glory of life and the wonder of the gift of others,” Pastor Evans said.
My Faith Has Been Very Important: Louisville Ovarian Cancer Survivor Monica Layton’s Story
Ovarian cancer survivor Monica Layton is another cancer warrior who leaned on faith to get her through her cancer battle.
Ovarian cancer survivor Monica Layton discusses the importance of faith when fighting cancer.
She previously told SurvivorNet of her church congregation that helped her both spiritually and physically as she battled cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her church also aided in her recovery after treatment.
“(I’ve) gone to the same church for a long time, so it’s like another family that really supports me,” Layton said. We were Episcopalian, and when I was having surgery, my priest came to the hospital and stayed and prayed with my family the whole time. “It was a long surgery. And then he came back to the hospital every day to pray with me.”
In addition to praying for her, Layton’s church congregation sent flowers, cards, and a prayer blanket, and often visited her.
“They were so kind,” Layton said. “I think my faith has been very important, crucial for me, just the prayer really helps, I think.”
Contributing: Stephanie Watson
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