Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Above and Beyond the 5 Senses

Home
About

Home
New Visions
Life Purpose and Crisis (Part 1)

Life Purpose and Crisis (Part 1)

Last updated on: September 30, 2020 at 1:50 pm by kathleenokeefe

Life Purpose and Crisis (Part 1) 2020-09-30T13:50:49-06:00 kathleenokeefe

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

by Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

I never gave much thought to my life-purpose and death, until I considered committing suicide. It seemed that sometimes bad things just accidentally happen to good people; or do they? What if everything that happened to me was according to a plan decided upon before my birth and accessed from a dream? Could my crisis be part of a misunderstood Life-purpose?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Boo- you have cancer are not words you want to hear. Yet, so many of us do. What is to be done? Is there an answer? Perhaps it is in your dreams.

It all began with a lucid dream message from three Saint Francis of Assisi looking Franciscan monks. If that sounds crazy to you reading it, imagine how insane if felt to me living it. I’m not even Catholic.

I had just hung up the phone from a call with my oncologist who confirmed a second set of tests showed a 9X11 cm life-threatening tumor in my left breast, not the right one where my first breast cancer and been found five year earlier.

A tumor of that size is pretty much the kiss of death.

So the question facing me was, “Do I want to die the slow painful death I had watched my mother suffer five years ago when she was diagnosed with recurrence? Or, do I want to take my life into my own hands and end it painlessly, here and now, before the situation became too grave to control?

My mind was pretty well made up from the memory of mom’s words when she had receive a similar call and had fallen into my arms crying, “This cancer is going to kill me.” She had fought the recurrence for four months. The last two months hospice became involved. My mother’s treatment shifted from fighting to waiting; painfully waiting for Death. “That will not be my ending,” I said to myself and wondered how many bottles of Oxycontin were left from my past surgeries and treatments over the past years. There had to be enough to do the joy.

My head felt like it was splitting from my headache, the result of nonstop weeping after the phone call from the doctor. Perhaps a nap would help. But, would my brain stop its incessant chatter long enough for me to fall asleep? Meditating at night helped calm me enough to fall asleep without pharmaceutical-aids. Meditation was my natural medication so perhaps it would work now to stop my mind-babble.

My on purpose aha-moment happened with a lucid dream during a nap.

Lying on

the bed, eyes closed, tears soaking the pillow, I focused on my breathing while I imagined being encircled by a mirrored bubble filled with golden healing light, and only allowing that which was of the highest and best to enter the bubble. Everything else was reflected back from wherever it came. Within seconds I mentioned to myself that I was finally falling asleep, a sign my lucid dream had begun….

Movement beside the bed made me open my eyes and search the room for an intruder. Peering down at me were the three Franciscan monks who had been my saviors and guides through my cancer treatment for the past five years. They all looked like Saint Francis of Assisi in their brown hooded robes with huge sleeves and knotted rope belts. They were back.

“Look, I know why you’re here.” I said looking up at them. “I’m dying. I got it. But, you may want to warn God that I am coming before I get up there to Heaven because I have some really big bones to pick with him. There is nothing I did in this lifetime or any other lifetimes to deserve cancer once, let alone twice. So, please go warn Him I’m on my way.”

The hooded monks remained motionless, but one answered, “Kat, don’t you remember?”

“Remember what?”

“Before you were born you told us you wanted to come down onto the earth-plane during a time when God, Higher-power, Spirituality, Inner-guidance, and angels were being locked away in the closet of life and Science, which is a gift from God, was being worshiped as a god. You wanted to show the world that Science goes so far and then comes God. We told you we’d be with you every step of the way, and we still are. You’re not going to die, now.”

I stared at them in disbelief and exclaimed, “What the heck was I smoking up there when I said that?”

The monks laughed and walked out of my dream.

I woke and looked around the empty room. The conversation had been a dream.

The words, “Thy will be done,” escaped my lips. They must be meant for me because Peter is still in the other room, dealing with the crisis in his own way. I repeated the words again o be sure I hear them right. It was me voicing my ultimate leap of faith. A sense of calm flowed over my body. It began at my head and spread over my feet, like warm air from a heater. My racing heart skipped a beat and then began to slow to a natural rhythm.

Reference:

Surviving Cancerland: Intuitive Aspects of Healing https://amzn.to/2Sc2mgX

Bio: Kathleen (Kat) O’Keefe-Kanavos: aka The Queen of Dreams Syndicated Columnist, PR Guru, VIDEO Podcaster/Show Host Dreaming Healing, 3-time Breast Cancer Survivor, multi award-winning author, and Dream Expert seen on Dr. Oz, DOCTORS, NBC, & CBS. Divine Dreams diagnose her illness. Kat and Duke U Radiologist Dr. Larry Burk co-wrote, (2018 Nautilus Award Winner) Dreams That Can Save Your Life. She’s an Author/Lecturer Keynote who promotes patient advocacy and connecting with Divine-guidance through Dreams. “Don’t tell God how big your problems are. Tell your problems how big your God is.” Learn more @** www.KathleenOKeefeKanavos.com

Photo credit: Poster is property of Kathleen O’Keefe-Kanavos

Uncategorized

Above & Beyond the 5 Senses Patheos Blog

Dream Expert Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos

Life Purpose and Crisis

relationships

Spirituality

Previous Post

July 10, 2020

COVID-19 and Your Echoes of Regret- (VIDEO Podcast)

Next Post

October 12, 2020 Life Purpose and Crisis (Part 2)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Dreams Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2023 November 2022 September 2022 August 2022 February 2022 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 January 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz