Mysterious Stuff: Theology of Health, Strange Stories, Unusual Factors, Cancer as a Turning Point and Living Your Values

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. Albert Einstein

Theology of Health, a new book by Dr. Tyler VanderWeele who is the head of the Human Flourishing Program, has just been released. VanderWeele speaks of health beyond just the physical body to include the health of the whole person. That alone sometimes astonishes a few people.

Why I’m particularly paying attention to the book today is because yesterday two old, rather strange, stories of healing came to mind.  Both stories led me to think of the “unusual factors” that researchers now tell us may be significantly impacting our health.  Things like spirituality and religion, living our values and having purpose, gratitude, hope, and kindness sorts of factors. 

Before I tell you the strange stories I’ve been thinking about, let me review a little research.

There is growing evidence that these non-physical elements can significantly influence health outcomes, particularly in the prevention and healing of diseases like cancer and cardiovascular conditions. Several key studies provide insight into this relationship:

 1. Spirituality and faith as related to health.

Spirituality and religious involvement have been linked to better health outcomes, including lower rates of cardiovascular disease, reduced mortality, and improved immune function. A comprehensive study from Harvard's School of Public Health found that regular religious service attendance was associated with a significantly lower risk of dying from cardiovascular diseases. The protective effect is thought to be related to the stress-buffering qualities of faith fostering emotional resilience.

2. Gratitude and immune function as related to health.

Research has demonstrated that gratitude has physiological benefits. A study published in Personality and Individual Differences found that participants who engaged in daily gratitude practices had lower levels of inflammation and a stronger immune response. These individuals also exhibited lower resting heart rates and improved sleep quality—two important factors for long-term cardiovascular health.

3. Hope, the relationship to disease progression and health.

Hope and optimism have been associated with lower risks of chronic illness. In a landmark study published in Circulation, optimism was linked to better cardiovascular outcomes. Participants with high levels of optimism were found to have a nearly 35% lower risk of heart disease. This positive outlook seems to directly influence physical health by reducing stress and promoting healthier coping mechanisms, such as regular exercise and better diet choices.

4. Kindness and the relationship to health and longevity.

Acts of kindness and generosity are also connected to physical health. According to research by Dr. Stephen Post, director of the Center for Medical Humanities at Stony Brook University, engaging in acts of kindness can lower blood pressure and strengthen the immune system. People who volunteered their time were less likely to experience inflammation and other biological markers associated with aging. These altruistic behaviors seem to foster a sense of purpose, which has also been correlated with lower mortality.

5. Strong Relationships and as related to health and disease prevention.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development—one of the longest-running studies on human well-being—which I have mentioned many times, has shown that strong relationships are among the most significant predictors of health and longevity. According to Dr. Robert Waldinger, the current director of the study, "Good relationships keep us happier and healthier. Period." This research highlights that individuals with strong social connections experience lower rates of chronic diseases like cancer and cardiovascular conditions, in part because of the protective effects on mental and emotional well-being.

6. Living your values as related to health.

Living in alignment with personal values promotes coherence and purpose, which has been shown to lower levels of stress. Dr. Kelly McGonigal, a health psychologist, emphasizes how purpose-driven living positively impacts the body’s physiology. Studies on cancer patients indicate that those who report having a strong sense of purpose fare better in terms of quality of life and disease progression. This is partly attributed to lower levels of cortisol (the stress hormone), which is associated with immune suppression.

Okay with that prelude, keep your mind open (including you doctors on the list) about some factors that seem somewhat unusual and their connection to health.

Here’s the first story. I'll just warn you ahead of time. To me, it's a mysterious and miraculous tale. My father had a massive and I mean massive heart attack when he was fifty.  He was not expected to live at all, but he did pull through it; however, the doctors told my mother that my father’s heart was “paper thin” and he would not live out the year.

My father, however, who was a strong Christian, experienced what he felt was the hand of Jesus on his heart. Bottom line.  He lived thirty more years and was still telling the story to the day he died. (He could not tell his original doctors though; they had died).

And now here’s a bit longer story and let me warn you ahead of time, I’m going to veer off into new territory.  Again, it's a mysterious and miraculous tale. Some years ago, I was in Laguna Beach going to art galleries.  The artist and owner of one gallery, let’s call her Julie mainly because I have forgotten her name, saw my interest in her and her work and we began a lengthy discussion.

Julie told me she was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given no hope. That night she had a dream.  A robber was holding a gun to her head and told her he was going to kill her.  “Why?” she hysterically asked.

“Because your life has no meaning,” the robber replied.

Julie said she awoke with a pounding heart. The combination of the dream and the terminal diagnosis moved Julie to action.  She acknowledged that she agreed with the robber, her life had little purpose or meaning. She had stuffed her values and dreams for years.

Within the week, she left her job, left her partner with whom she had lost connection, sold her house, bought a traveling paint set, and caught a plane to France.  That had been eighteen years prior. Now here she was purportedly healed from terminal cancer and giving plein air art lessons in Laguna Beach and… painting professionally herself.

I might have scoffed at story, but I happened to be reading at that very time an older book by Drs Lawrence LeShan and Ruth Bottetino.  The book was entitled, Cancer as a Turning Point. It stirred me because these authors had seriously undertaken working with terminally ill patients, mostly cancer patients, and had been able to help many of them recover and many others significantly extend their lives.

Still, it was hard to believe.  I called them up and talked to Ruth Bolletino (they are both dead now and their obituaries can be read where many of their colleagues and people they worked with express their gratitude, but they had a website at the time and I found their contact).  What Ruth told me is that they were successful because they helped people find and express their best and most meaningful ways of living – helped them “sing their unique song.” (Remember the famous psychologist Abraham Maslow said an artist must paint, a writer must write, and a singer must sing to live a good life; and, as an aside, this is why my husband and I are rooting our hearts out for our grand nephew as he pursues his dream of playing professional hockey).

Ruth said that she believed the primary work for all of us who want to live richer lives is to grapple with the forces that keep us from being compassionate enough toward ourselves to take our values seriously.

Our values are often suppressed by our fear of what others will think of us.  One story, Ruth told me was about a lawyer.  He stayed in a job he hated because of his fear of seeing his father’s disappointment.  LeShan wrote of a corporate executive who wanted to be a special education teacher and had to courageously hold on to his dream AND withstand the dismay and horror of parents, siblings, and friends.

I haven’t talked much about values.  But since we are here, I might as well continue a bit.  In addition to fueling our sense of meaning and purpose, values fuel our motivation and emotions. And let me add, we may not need to divorce or sell our house or grab a plane to France to honor our values.

First, we have to start with identifying our values.  I could start a new blog here since I’m veering so far off track, but that might be a little cruel if you’re really interested. 

Here are a few tips for finding your values.  Examine those times in your life when you felt most alive or at your best.  What were you doing? Who were you with? Where were you? Who were you being?  (by the way, that last question is asked by coaches a lot…who were/are you being?) Professional coach Laura Whitworth simply asks, “What would a fulfilling life be like for you?” Other coaches ask clients to list what they are passionate about or provide them with a list to choose from. 

Just recently I found a couple of new sites to help with this. One is a brand new site by a positive psychologist - https://www.thisiswhatyoushouldbedoingwithyourlife.com. I took the "test" in about 4 minutes and it was fun and useful. The other is a site that isn't new but I just stumbled on it. It's by a lawyer who turned his life upside down and now works with people on having a good life. He calls his work, The Good Life Project. I read his book a few years back. I mention it again in the future. The assessment he offers is called identifying your "spark type" - https://sparketype.com/sparketest. I took that one in about 5 minutes and found it interesting and useful as well.

Dr. Martin Seligman has devised the values in action survey at authentichappiness.com. Thousands have taken that assessment. It's much longer but there is a brief version. Seligman urges people to use their values in action every day with intention. If you find that old book by LeShan and Bolletino (I’ve ordered the book again), as I recall they had 29 or so exercises to help people decipher their best life and list the things that turn them off and on. People do seem to understand the importance of purpose and meaning for a good life. Remember Pastor Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Life, which was the rage for year? It sold over 50 million copies and was translated into 85 languages by 2020. That's another source for working with values and purpose.

There’s a lot more to be said about values, but once you identify your major values, you’re going to need to prioritize them. You’re going to want to examine how your life currently reflects your values.  And you can come up with one to three actions that will take you closer to living a values-driven, meaningful, vibrant life. 

Okay, to sum up a lot covered in this blog.  Health may be thought of more broadly than just physical health. Factors that we may have not given much thought to may affect health and wellness.  Spirituality and religion, gratitude, hope, kindness, relationships AND now…consider this - living aligned with our values may also significantly affect us.  (If all of this throws you, perhaps look back at the blog, Why Woo-Works). It's rather mysterious. And incredible and awesome.

Still, it's worth keeping our eyes open and experimenting. As I mentioned I’ve ordered Cancer as a Turning Point for a re-reading. And I’ve ordered Tyler VanderWeele’s new book, Theology of Health.

How might we journey together toward The Good Life by considering the big picture of what health is and entertaining, even experimenting with “unusual” factors that may significantly affect our wellbeing?

(I’m curious to hear your thoughts on this, drjunedarling1@gmail.com)