What Not To Say When Someone Is Sick

[Arugula Latte]

39. But why should you be put in the position of possibly being "unkind" in the first place?

It made them feel better -- but isn't the point to make the sick person feel better?

I have a friend who went through cancer. When he was told that he was being prayed for, he said that his first thought was: "So you're asking a favor from a deity, but this being, if it has the power to intervene in human lives such as mine, either caused or allowed me to get cancer in the first place." This is what went through his head; not what he said to the pray-ers.

So by telling him they were praying for him, religious people caused him a bit of irritation, which he didn't need in his cancer battle. It probably never crossed their mind that he wouldn't be happy to receive prayers ... which is a big part of the problem. A lot of religious people have NO CLUE that many people don't share their devotion to supernatural beliefs and why it's good to spread the word to believers to knock it off unless, like I said, they KNOW that the sick person believes in this stuff.