The Hidden Inspiration of Faith
Faith seems to have a strange place in todays world. It is largely completely dismissed. And when it is presented it is often done so in a superior or self righteous way. I’m a believer and you should believe in what I do too.
But it can be something much more subtle than that.
23 years ago I was diagnosed with one of the worst cases of Head & Neck cancer ever seen. They told me I had a month to live and were right to do so. There was only a handful of surgeons in the world who could even look at a case like mine. Eventually we found a surgeon but even he, didn’t really believe I would make it. The surgery I required was as big as it comes. I had a massive tumor hidden in the middle of my face that was running from my cheek and sinus around my eye and backed up against both brain and spine. Survival was very unlikely. And the only prospect beyond that was a few extra years with a very limited quality of life.
But I did survive. And my wonderful story has travelled the world ever since to encourage many more.
It is now impossible for me to tell that story without including the strength my faith gave me. I wouldn’t have survived without it. If you are not afraid to die, there is nothing left to be afraid of.
When I speak to a corporate audience I am conscious that if I mention the word “God” many of them will run out of the room. So I speak about my faith in a very practical way. It gave me strength I could not have found anywhere else.
Just before my surgery the elephant in the room was that I was going to die.
I needed to know that if that was the only road left, I would not be afraid to go down it. My fight would only be as strong as its weakest link. The weakest link was that I was going to die.
So one evening on my hospital bed I put myself to the test. I needed to chop off my Achilles heel. I just began by looking at the world around me.
And what did I see.
The length of the journey doesn’t matter. Our job, for as long as we are here, is to keep trying to be the best person we can be.
I saw oceans and mountains and rivers and magnificent creatures of all kinds. I saw a sun that just happens to rise every morning and set every evening to give us light to live and darkness to rest.
Then I looked beyond this world and I saw stars and planets and galaxies that are way beyond our understanding and imagination.
And then I looked at us.
Most of us can barely make a decent cup of coffee.
The best of us make several mistakes a day.
The worst of us commit the most unimaginable atrocities.
And I came to a very simple, personal conclusion.
We can’t have made all this.
This preparation for perhaps my final turn on earth just happened to coincide with everything I had believed in. There has to be something greater. Nothing else makes sense.
We have all come too far and know too much for that not to be the case.
A world with no war, no disease, no loneliness, no heartbreak, no bombs, no death.
We are all different but we all have common links. We all have a desire to be happy.
We all search for love and peace for ourselves and our family.
So the greater force, whatever it is, can only be a source of good.
That is the basic natural instinct in all of us.
And that greater force can only be what God is.
A God who loves us. A God who has a much greater plan for all of us than this.
In the world where we now live none of us are truly happy for any great length of time. Happiness just comes in little bursts.
In our daily lives we all face difficulties. Rich or poor, young or old. Nobody escapes.
There is no guarantee that tomorrow will not bring illness or accident or separation or war.
This cannot be the world that was intended for us.
Once you cross that line, there is nothing this world can throw at you. We are just passing through. The length of the journey doesn’t matter.
Our job, for as long as we are here, is to keep trying to be the best person we can be.
And one day, everything will make perfect sense.
My cancer knew that evening it was in for the long haul. I was unbreakable now.
And I have been blessed ever since with a resilience that will always be greater than even life itself.
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