Giving Thanks IN ADVANCE ??

One of the most striking stories told in the book and movie The Secret is the story of Cathy Goodman and her ability to heal herself of breast cancer without the traditional medical treatments.

This spot in the movie has received a great deal of criticism, and it is easy to understand why. The medical community will certainly be concerned because they believe that this might dissuade some from treatments that could save their life. Even Bob Proctor in interviews given since the movie was released has said publicly that he did not like that they put that particular story in.

Plus it seems to some that the story says that she healed her cancer with laughter. This is missing a very great point, and one that people should understand clearly before they decide to forego traditional medical treatments.

The crux of Cathy's story is that she offered continual thanks, in advance, for the healing of her cancer. The laughter and the funny movies were to allieviate stress, which stress would have made the condition worse. Laughter IS a proven way to allieviate stress.

Her actions in offering gratitude for this were extremely bold.

And yet they are not without precendent and teaching in the source materials that the movie and book were inspired by. Consider this passage from The Science of Getting Rich:

"The man who can sincerely thank God for the things, which as yet he has only in his imagination, has real faith. He will get rich. He will cause the creation of whatsoever he wants."

Maybe this is a little easier to swallow when you think of the responder as "The Universe" instead of "God". After all, "The Universe" is a place that operates by natural law, including the Law of Atttraction, and thus Cathy Goodman's gratitude would have created such a vaccuum in the Universe that the healing energies that she required would have been unavoidably drawn towards her. Cut and dried.

But many do not make much of a distinction between "God" and "The Universe", or otherwise believe that even God operates according to Universal Law, albeit He understands them quite a bit better than us.

Note also that she did not get caught up in any "hows". Knowing that stress would not help, she took steps to get rid of it, but other than that, she did not take any specific actions, other then feeling and expressign the gratitude, towards her healing. Why?

Because she was not inspired to take any further actions . . . in this case they were not necessary.

So here is what I am getting at, and here is where I invite feedback. . .

Can you by these actions bind God?

To your will?

To me that seems a little different than the generally accepted Christian teachings that God is so much better and greater than us, and therefore He has power over us, NOT the other way around. Read the book of Job on this point. (Also see my previous blog posting on Job).

And yet the very scripture says "Ask and Ye shall Receive, Knock and it shall be opened unto you". Add this to the mix; a lesser known scripture says this: I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.

Now how do we know whether we "do what He say"?

Consider yet another scripture: "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness."

OK so I think we see a key here. Cathy Goodman's healing was a righteous desire. She was willing to take action towards that desire, which action was to feel and speak the gratitude for her healing before it came to her. While she does not use the word, her faith is evident in her story, and appeared to be unshakeable. She knew that she would be healed, and it was only a matter of when. She also knew that "when" would be before it was "too late", and knowing and believing that, it did not matter exactly how long it took.

Letting go of the timing is letting go of one of the biggest hows. God/The Universe has impeccable timing. Trust it to them, and the timing will be perfect. That will become clear when viewed with the 20/20 hindsight.

So here's the rub. If we face a life changing situation, including a dis-ease of some sort, then we should remember that even in the movie they state that all forms of healing, including the doctors, have their place and should not be ignored. But, knowing that, and being able to have faith, be believing, and especially be grateful, we should feel the gratitude for the end result of what we are looking for BEFORE it actually happens. The body has the ability to heal itself. Incurable means only "curable from within".

If we can have that mental clarity, then we will be in alignment, and the healing will come, and the timing will not matter, and the doctor and the drugs will not be required.

But hear this loud and clear . . .

If we will waver in our faith, if we will not be 100% believing, if we have trouble feeling the gratitude or are saying the gratitude for too long without actually feeling it, then our belief needs help, and it is time to call and visit the doctor and follow through on the treatment plan. Also seek a blessing from all spiritual leaders that you know.

And then, having done all, you can be 100% believing, because you have done all. If you go then, it will be only because it was your time.

And the timing sense of God/The Universe on this is just as impeccable as ever, though that is not always clear to us who are living on this side of the veil. There are things for us to do in the next phase of our existance, and some get to it sooner than others.

Ever wonder how the ancient prophets were able to bring about a famine in the land by their words? Same principles applying. They had a righteous desire for their fellow citizens to repent, and they could see no other way to get their attention.

Hopefully we are paying attention.

Joseph