Following my last blog post, I had a really good conversation with my cousin Rachel about race, hatred, illness, the soul, light and love. Rhetorically, she asked why is it that people choose hate when love feels so much better. Think about that for a moment…

In an attempt to reduce a complex multidimensional answer to a simple response, I stated that people are wounded in many ways and have not gone through the necessary processes to heal those wounds. Hurt people, hurt people as the saying goes. Wounding is inevitable but healing is a choice that requires work and courage.

The truth of the human experience is that we are all wounded in some way. Our efforts to cope with and heal from those wounds directly influence how we view and relate to ourselves and others. Racism is an unhealed wound that gives rise to anger and hate as well as guilt and shame. The inability to process through these difficult emotions in healthy and constructive ways gives rise to a myriad of behavioral and interpersonal dsyfunctionality further separating us from the essence of who we are at the core of our being – love.

Rachel, with conscious intention and psycho-spiritual maturity, walks the path of love. She walks in the footsteps of our grandmother; a generous and giving woman of extraordinary faith who was one of the most loving beings I have ever known. She also walks with courage and the awareness of a transcendent reality beyond the physical world that was only enhanced through her battle with cancer.

Diagnosed last year, she recently completed chemotherapy and radiation treatments and is currently cancer free. She maintained a positive attitude throughout the journey. With a strong faith in God and simply making up her mind that she would overcome the “monster”, she is in the final stages of her heroine’s journey.

So optimistic in the face of such devastating circumstances, her doctors believed she was in denial and recommended counseling. She was far from the denial. I once told her that one of the most important variables associated with overcoming any illness is a positive attitude.

As we spoke about her journey toward healing, she alluded to the lessons learned along the way and the internal shifting that occurred as a result of her process. It occurred to me that from a spiritual perspective, the journey, lessons, gifts, healing and growth was about much more than her medical diagnosis. Our souls are on a journey the physical body is in service to.

It is the awareness of the transcendent reality beyond physical being that allows my cousin and so many others to “look beyond and above and truly love their fellow man”. To them I say, spread it, model it and continue to illuminate the consciousness of those who remain in darkness.