The Mystery of Why Children Get Sick
A doctor, a priest, and a guru give their take
I recently watched the documentary Heal and was blown away.
The documentary takes a deep dive into the mind-body connection and why humans are sicker now more than ever before. Chronic diseases, cancer, pain, and inflammation are all at a pinnacle point.
The documentary presents a unique view on where alternative healing and spirituality meet Western medicine.
Many times in Western medicine, doctors treat the symptoms but never get to the root causes of the underlying disease. This leads to disease being managed but never uprooted.
As I watched the documentary, I was struck by a few things.
First, the documentary primarily focuses on why adults develop chronic illness and how they heal from disease.
Second, the documentary heavily emphasizes the mind-body connection and that all sickness starts in the mind.
Finally, the documentary ends on a note that kept me wondering. An unexplained phenomenon that even the most brilliant spiritual minds could not answer — the mystery of why children get sick.
As I sat awestruck in my living room, I started to think through why children get sick.
If all suffering starts in the mind then how could a child get cancer?
How could a child die at such a young age?
How could a child be born with a disability?
I had to find an answer. I had to investigate this mystery.
Medical, religious, and spiritual perspectives
To do this, I turned towards three schools of thought that I believed could help flesh out the mystery.
The first is the medical field. Many of us go to a doctor when something feels wrong in the mind or the body.
Second, the church — or at least the Pope. He is viewed as the holiest figure in the Catholic faith.
Finally, a guru. The one I turned to was Sadhguru, who is an Indian yoga guru.
From these three fields of thought, I sought to piece together a concrete reason for why children get sick and suffer.
The Doctor
When digging for a succinct medical perspective on why children get sick, it is all over the board. Anywhere from why is my child getting a cold to why did my child get cancer.
Many articles offer support to parents taking care of chronically ill children or children with disabilities, which is one of the most challenging things a parent can do. I even found articles giving advice to parents on how to explain to a child that they are sick.
From the Journal of the American Medical Association the perspective is clear:
However, some children develop chronic illness (lasting for years or even lifelong) as a result of genetic (inherited) conditions, environmental factors, or a combination of both. …Exposure to tobacco or alcohol in the womb can exacerbate these diseases.
It appears that parents' decisions combined with a genetic predisposition are the most succinct medical reason for why children get sick or are born with disabilities.
This left me feeling that it was somewhat a lottery and very dependent on what happens in the womb or the child’s environment.
I also asked — How do children perceive their illness?
As adults, it is key to give children information on their condition. Young children may assume that their condition was given to them for being “bad”.
The consensus is that helping a child understand their illness can help reduce anxiety. Still, some studies have shown that children with chronic conditions don’t know more about their bodies or condition than their healthier counterparts.
Overall, a child can understand that they are sick but might lack an understanding of the specifics of their illness.
I was not satisfied with this answer so I moved on to the next category.
The Priest
Many families turn to their faith and the church when a child receives a terrible diagnosis.
After sixteen years of Catholic school, I don’t remember Father Larry telling me why children get sick or even why children suffer.
As I delved deep into the religious realm, some themes emerged:
- Humans are sinners and imperfect. Sin causes us to suffer, not God. (Thanks Adam and Eve)
- God does not cause disease.
- The Pope even said that parents of seriously ill children are experiencing “a path to the cross.” In this suffering, we get closer to God.
However, the Pope followed up with:
The Trinity, the Eucharist, the grace of God, [and] the suffering of children are all mysteries.
Even the holiest person in the Catholic faith went on record to state that suffering children is a mystery.
Alternatively, I found websites that said because we are all born into original sin we deserve to suffer, no matter what age. Children are “sinners” too.
While I disagree with this perspective, it showed me that there is a concept of yearning for perfection. Humans suffer and in that suffering, we yearn for a more perfect version of ourselves. That perfection can only be felt in “heaven” or in unity with God.
I moved on to the next category.
The Guru
I was surprised to find that there was not a wealth of information on the spiritual side — or at least from my initial search.
However, I did come across a video by Sadguru explaining the suffering of children.
He was asked:
Thousands of children are born with cardiac problems, cancer, all kinds of problems and it is not their fault. Why did this happen and why should it happen?
He said that human existence is mechanical and when children are born with illness there is an issue in their mechanical body. The body is never in a state of full perfection, which means that it must be constantly improved.
He also said to look at the parents and the mechanics in their bodies.
Finally, he said that the identification with the body is so strong that we cannot think past the body in our human existence.
He also speaks in an alternative video about why a child with a disability must suffer.
Sadguru surprises the audience when he says the child does not suffer, but rather the parents do. Their child is not like any other child in society. The child does not know they are different.
The comparison to other children makes parents think that their child is different but instead their child is special.
While he acknowledges that this perspective might be brutal, he said that life is brutal and creation is brutal. Suffering comes from our own perspectives due to us wanting our whole existence to happen the way we think it should be.
You do not have to make everything into your suffering.
The inherent comparison of one child to another or the parent's expectations for their child is the root cause of suffering.
While this does not get to the core of why children become sick, it does speak to expectations we hold. The comparison and expectation of “normal” lead to increased suffering, disappointment, and tethering to the human body.
Reflection
After extensive searches and rabbit holes, it is clear that the suffering of children is a mystery. However, when combining the three fields of thought there is something both material and mystical about why children become sick and suffer.
Materially, the body has a mechanical problem that is due to environment or genetics, or both. Mystically, there are expectations we place on children, our life, and society that lead to increased disappointment when a child does not live up to our expectations.
Finally, spiritually a child that suffers may also have a bigger impact on the parent's spiritual journey, trials and triumphs. While the child may also find spiritual enlightenment and awakening in their struggle, the parents are the ones who make the decisions and give a large amount of care.
Overall, the suffering of children is a mystery that the universe may not want us to fully comprehend. Even some of the most prominent thought leaders in medicine, religion, and mysticism cannot give a definitive answer for why children suffer.
In this mystery, we find that there are forces outside of us that are greater than our limited human consciousness.
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