Friends are dear...

I am entering the UZ Gent (University Hospital) tomorrow for an operation to cut the evil off my bowel. Both I and my family have had a couple of very scary weeks, going thru tests after tests to localize the problem. News have been encouraging so far, leading to the decision to operate it and get on with life. I am glad it's happening rather sooner than later as the idea that something is eating up slowly but ruthlessly good parts and organs of the container of my mind and soul is a unbearable thought.

The burden is huge... but the amount of sympathy and encouragement thru mails, phone calls, personal visits I had from dozens of friends and family, people I haven't heard from for a long time, has been overwhelming. Many decide to be secretive about problems as mine. I don't mind sharing. I am glad I did.

I am not too religious in the strict 'symbolic' sense of the known world religions but I strongly believe that there is a separation of 'mind & soul' and the body in which they live-in during the finite years of a person's life. I also believe in the collective power that emerges from a large number of minds and souls carrying a subject like mine in their thoughts.

I strongly believe that the evil initially emerged in my body during a period of 'lows' when my immune system was weakened as a result of negative thoughts, and when cancerous cells found the chance to take the upper hand inside my bowel. However, I believe that the dozens of minds and souls carrying me in their thoughts during the last couple of weeks and in the next few days have generated an invisible but very present healing force that will help me overwin the evil. I already witnessed the effects of such a force ever since I first spoke about my medical situation: The final diagnose proved much less severe than initial tests suggested.

It's impossible to prove the truth of my arguments above. It's also impossible to prove the opposite as well. There is no way to measure spiritual matters with physical material tools. The connection between matter and spirit is subtle and not too deterministic to withstand a scientific evidence test. That's because this is the way nature decided to function ever since the big-bang. It's a matter that you can only grasp with your own mind and soul. Even atheists believe in that... that the thoughts, not necessarily the prayers, are quite strong and can actually help. As my ex-colleague and dear friend Hans, from Holland wrote me in a mail. It's curious but I believe it to be true.

A long time assistant of mine with a razor sharp mind, who followed me in my professional career thru three different employers, sent me this (I had no idea she could even do this, but as I always say, strong brains are capable of many talents) :

Hang In There

Hello, my friend; You’re on my mind,
Because you're somehow ailing,
But your response to any challenge
Has always been unfailing....

So I’m confident you’ll win again;
Hang in there, and you’ll see;
You’ll be back on top in no time,
Tackling life courageously...

Thanks a mille, my dear friend...