Illness

"Becoming ill is a part of life, a hazard of life, a consequence of life. There are many causes: exposure to dangerous substances, stress, disappointment, the desire to retreat from the challenge of one’s life, exposure to other people who are ill, depression, grief. Any and all of these things may be present to initiate illness."

"You have had to take form, now having to take care of a body that has tremendous needs—a very fragile instrument that can be harmed, damaged or destroyed by any number of things. It has to be fed; it has to be clothed; it has to be protected. It is subject to illness and breakdown."

Illness a part of life

"Because any dysfunction, mental or physical, is part of your total life here, it cannot be isolated and separated out. If you wish to address a chronic problem, you must address your entire life. But because addressing your entire life is a far greater quest than most people are willing or desiring to undertake, they merely wish to address the symptoms of the discomfort and erase them as quickly and as easily as possible."

"There are no guarantee in life that you will have perfect health. Even if your thinking is perfect and your behavior is immaculate, though your risk may be much reduced for accident, illness or injury, you still have this risk because that is part of being in the world. People often want to eliminate the idea of risk. They do not like the idea that they have to live with risk, and so they believe, “There is really no injury or accident in the world. There is no sickness. It is all the result of human dysfunction, and if human dysfunction could be eliminated, well, there would be no accidents, injuries or illnesses.” Again, look at the world around you. Look at the plants and the animals. They all take a risk in living here. There are no guarantees that everything will go perfectly for them, that they will all live a long span of years. To be in life, you must be in life as it is not as you want it to be. To experience life, you must experience life as it is and not as you want it to be."

"The problem of survival, the problem of competition, the problem of illness and exposure to other life forms, the problem of facing difficult environments, the problem of getting along with others in a separated state and the evolutionary track of going from being very primitive peoples into greater dimensions of social manifestation and development, facing competition from other groups within one world and ultimately facing competition from groups from other worlds— this is the arena that God has created for that part of Creation, which is only a small part of Creation, to have a place to live and to grow, to make decisions and to redeem themselves through the discovery of Knowledge and by making contributions to their own peoples and worlds."

Illness not to dominate a life

"When does your life become really important, not just to secure pleasures and advantages and avoid difficulties, but really to accomplish something that you know you are here to accomplish? Then if you are ill, even seriously ill, you have the commitment to change your life, to alter your habits and involvements with others if necessary. You are going to focus on moving forward rather than succumbing to the conditions of the moment.”

"Greater truth is needed in your life, for your well-being and for the well-being of the world, for you have not come here for yourself alone. You have come here for the world. That is how great you are in truth. That is how great your purpose is, and that is how great your reward will be as you reclaim the essential aspect of your life. Then, if there is illness, accident or injury, you will simply find what is needed to make the adjustments or the repairs that are necessary so that you can keep going because you have somewhere to go and you have something to do. Then these things will not be exaggerated, these things will not be overemphasized, and these things will not dominate your life and attention. And though you may have aches and pains as you proceed, you will continue, and you will fulfill your destiny here."

See also

Healing

Health

Sickness

Pandemic

Further study

• Illness and Healing (May 28, 2011)