Fearless Healing by Rev. Carla Comiter

This past December I was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer and had a lumpectomy. Fortunately, the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes, so I will not need chemotherapy. I am scheduled for six weeks of radiation treatment, standard procedure for this diagnosis.

I shared this news about my diagnosis with my congregation in early December. We had already begun our series of Christmas talks, and that day I was speaking about the Gifts of the Magi. It was easy to draw a parallel between the gifts presented to Baby Jesus and the spiritual gifts that we receive throughout our lives. Gold, frankincense and myrrh—royal, holy and mortal, these are the characteristics of each of us as we express the divine incarnated as human.

Sometimes the best gifts come in the most unexpected packages. As I moved through the steps involved in my surgery and recovery, I had time for rest and reflection. I discovered some of the many gifts that this experience has brought to me—I’m sure that more await my discovery.

The first gift was releasing my fear of breast cancer. Since it is estimated that one in eight women will experience this illness, most of us live in the fear that it will be us. And it was me. No longer could I bury this fear in the shadows of my mind. Once I brought it into the light, it dissolved. God is wholly good—I opened to the blessings being shown to me by walking through my fear.

Those of us involved in the metaphysical healing movement sometimes struggle to balance the co-creative power of thought with the knowledge that God is wholly good, wholly loving and everywhere present. What is so loving about God allowing us to bring about disease with our beliefs?

We read from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, Verse 70: “Jesus said, ‘If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.’" Sometimes when we hold an error belief it is brought forth as disease—so that we may recognize and heal the belief.

Knowing that breast cancer and prostate cancer are the most common types of cancer in women and men has caused me to consider that this may be the expression of our dysfunctional relationships. The high divorce rate also reflects this dysfunction. As we experience the pain and sense of failure caused by living stereotypical gender roles, creating false expectations and disappointment, we create in our bodies the expression of that pain.

One Sunday morning when I was well enough to return to the pulpit, I led my congregation through a healing ritual designed to acknowledge and honor the divine feminine and the divine masculine. I’ve included the ritual as written for the divine masculine below. After I led that part, I asked one of the men from our Board of Trustees to lead the same ritual, changing only the pronouns, to honor the divine feminine.

It is my belief that I, and we, can begin to heal the gap between the sexes and love ourselves into divine wholeness.

Ceremony for Honoring the Divine Masculine

Gentlemen, please rise.

Ladies, behold these men. They are the embodiment of the Divine Masculine. In this moment, they are the personification of every man since Adam first walked this Earth.

Gentlemen, in our heart of hearts, we want you to know that we love you. You are our fathers, our brothers, our sons. You are the fathers of our children, our friends, our mirrors and our partners in this journey through life.
We thank you. We thank you for all of the times that you have stood beside us, steadfast and enduring. We thank you for the times of laughter and joy, of passion and tenderness. We thank you for comforting us when we grieve, and for allowing us to comfort you in times of loss. Thank you for providing, for protecting, for sharing your strength and your wisdom.

On this day we commit to releasing any errors of the past and to seeing you in all of your masculine glory.

Ladies, repeat after me:
“Gentlemen, we know who you are.
You are the beloved sons of a loving Creator.
We bless you, we appreciate you,
And we behold the living Christ in each one of you.”

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Rev. Carla can be reached at RevCarla@sunriseunity.org.

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