 Spiritual direction with the person with a life-threatening illness I sat opposite my GP and watched him stare at my blood-test results, feeling his discomfort, as he told me that I had Acute Myeloid Leukemia. In the next few sentences, he would talk about death and about chemotherapy. My life, as I knew it, had changed. The next day I went into hospital and, since then, have been involved with medical experts. What do the spiritual experts have to offer?
This was almost five years ago. In this paper I am exploring the wayin which spiritual direction can assist the person with a life-threatening illness. I will be proposing a spirituality for living with a life-threatening illness: - Live in the present moment.
- Live with gratitude
- Live with hope
- Live in peace with God, self and others
- Live a balanced life
- Find rest in God... nurture one's soul
- Forgive others and forgive self
- Surrender
I shall be expanding on these aspects of spirituality and offering examples of how a spiritual director may wish to help a directee with each of the above e.g., prayer, journalling, drawing, various forms of meditation, guided visualization etc. I shall also be suggesting reflections and activities for workshopsand retreats to support the person with who has a life-threatening illness. These include: - Honoring each person's story - where is God in this story?
- Finding balance in one's life. What do I want more of in my life? What do I want less of in my life?
- Finding one's inner wisdom for healing.
- A search for one's own spirituality in living with a life-threatening illness. What supports me? What keeps me going?
- Where to from here? What are my hopes and dreams for the future?
Denise Brosnan RSJ, M. Counselling, M. Ed. Leadership, has survivedalmost five years post a diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia. Denise works as a Pastoral Worker in two Catholic schools in the Archdiocese ofBrisbane. |
