Read this in the daily news, and I thought I'd share.

-Cornelius Bennhold.A theoretical physicist, bennhold has been fighting synovial sarcoma, a rare cancer of the joints and tendons, for 13 years. Because of his profession, you might expet him to put his faith in the marvels of modern medicine-chemo, radiation, surgery-and he does. But he also credits a rich and far-reaching spititual life with helping him rebound from each new finding of the cancer, followed by the brutal invasions of surgery and treatment. "I don't need to prejudge something just because it doesn't fit into my theory of the universe," he says of the tenuous scientific evidence that faith heals. "I was probing and exploring the kind of tools that work for me to find my spiritual center and my access to God."
During his last round of hospitalization, he prayed and practiced meditation. He got support from his church and from a spiritual group. One day, Puchalski found him depressed by the hospital food, craving brie, good wine and french bread. So she went out and got them (Substituting sparkling cider for wine), and they talked into the night. "That to me is much a part of spiritual care," she says, but in this case she was the benificiary. "I walked away inspired. I didn't think he'd walk again, and nor did anyone else. But he iis. I think all of that attention either gave him the inner strength to get better, or maybe it was a miracle. I don't know. Science can't measure the influence of spiritual grace," says Puchalski. "Much of what happens to our patients has no explanation. Illness causes us to ask quesions that are deeply spiritual and unanswerable scientifically. Why am I suffering? What is the meaning of my illness and suffering? Illness, in and of itself, is a spiritual journey, which may include emptiness, joy, despair, hope and mystical experiences. As Physicians and caregivers, our job is to assist our patients through the journey."