Illness as a Nurturing of the Soul
I am expecting a child, and he has Down syndrome. A genetic study was conducted with a very high probability of accuracy. We’re currently only at 16 weeks, and the baby's heart is still in the process of forming.
Of course, the extra chromosome is here to stay, but as for any associated conditions… So far, no other diagnoses have been given, and everything appears normal. But it’s still very early…
Can you tell me how I can help my child? My husband and I love and await him deeply. Termination is not an option for us. This is our second pregnancy in this marriage; the first was ectopic.
My husband and I have a very warm relationship — we’re partners, best friends, and lovers all in one. We have a very strong family. I read that children like ours are often born to couples who merely tolerate each other. That’s not the case with us.
I really look forward to your response. Thank you.
When spouses are angry, resentful, or judgmental towards each other, it negatively affects the child’s soul and, consequently, their physical health and destiny. Aggression suppresses love in the soul and leads one away from God.
The primary sin of humanity, and thus the main source of illness and misfortune, is pride. As the Bible states, pride is a separation from God.
However, when a husband and wife are ideal lovers and partners, they may become so attached to each other and to their family happiness that they risk forgetting God, increasing their subconscious pride and distancing themselves from Him even more.
The Bhagavad Gita outlines three main dangers that lead one away from God: lust, anger, and greed. Lust, the main factor distancing one from God, is listed first, followed by anger and aggression.
Thus, the root of all illness is pride. Illness is a punishment, a lesson, a form of nurturing. It is a way to help and save the soul, primarily a salvation for the soul.
On the external level, one must fight illness, the problem itself, while on the internal level, one must address the cause of the illness — pride.
Christ taught that possession and evil spirits are overcome through fasting and prayer. Fasting means detachment from lust, desires, and physical and spiritual pleasure.
A person, like God, is trinitarian. Our higher self is eternal and resides in God, while our secondary self, composed of body and spirit — two opposites — lives in this world.
The highest form of asceticism is detachment from one’s ego, through both physical and spiritual fasting.
Not worrying about the future, not fearing or despairing, believing in one’s strength and in God’s help, detaching from worldly interactions, thoughts, anxieties, judgments, and self-criticism — this is spiritual fasting.
Christ said, «Blessed are the poor in spirit.»
The future is spiritual. The poor in spirit are those who can renounce the future for the sake of love, those who have ceased to depend on the future, freeing themselves from fear, panic, and despair.
Lust is primarily connected with sexuality and spiritual connection with a beloved person.
It is the expression of humanity’s primary instinct — the instinct for survival and the continuation of life. Yet the survival instinct, ultimately, is about securing the future.
Paradoxically, the preservation, maintenance, and protection of life can be the main factors in losing unity with God.
Perhaps that is why Christ went to the cross — to demonstrate that love for God is more important than physical and spiritual life.
Fasting is detachment from temporal life, while prayer is unity with eternal life — with one’s higher self, with God.
P.S. The Old Testament states that after sex, a person is unclean until evening.
Yet at the same time, God commanded, «Be fruitful and multiply!» This may seem contradictory.
It all comes down to prioritization.
Frequent sex, frequent indulgence, and lust without periodic detachment lead to sexual pleasure becoming a primary pursuit and the subconscious aim of life. This then displaces love for God to second or third place.
From this point, problems with the future begin because the soul, having turned away from God, loses its future.
We possess both the present and the future as long as love resides in the soul.
The roof and walls of a house stand as long as there is a foundation. The foundation is unseen, but without it, neither walls nor roof will stand.
It is no coincidence that all religions call for periodic abstinence and unity with God through prayer.
Why do people mostly pray when they are in trouble? The fact is, most prayers are requests, pleas for blessings.
Yet prayer should be a way to bring the soul to order.
The essence of prayer is not in asking for health and prosperity but in feeling reverence and gratitude, in humility, in accepting Divine will, in recognizing one’s secondary status before the Almighty, in detachment from body and mind, and in experiencing love and unity with the Creator.
S.N. Lazarev, «40 Questions about the Soul, Fate, and Health»
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