Am I sick of being sick?

The relationship we have with doctors and other medical professionals is crucial to our ongoing health. However, there is an important unseen element in this relationship which is built on how we believe the treatments that they provide will have a positive impact on our lives. This is not just a matter of positive thinking, although that certainly helps, but an engagement with the process of our own healing. There is not only a degree to which we are called to trust our doctors but do we trust ourselves? It is important that we talk and ask questions about how a treatment will assist us. We also need to listen and understand how the treatment will be effective. The more we are engaged in the process of our own health care the better the likely outcomes.

There is also the recognition that we are not just our bodies. There is a spiritual impact of illness upon us which can separate us from loved ones and also turn us in on ourselves. The need for the healing of the psychological and spiritual elements of an illness are also important. There can also be an impact upon on our own worth and dignity as a person. This isolation from others can also cause us to feel separated from God. The sacrament of anointing of the sick allows us the opportunity to ask God to be present to us in our bodies and spirit to discover a person who walks with us even at our lowest ebb. Jesus always wants to walk with us and provide what is needed for us in our illness.