Missing scene from Memento Mori, hospital chapel. Not sure how I feel about the drawing but I like the implication so I'm putting it up anyways.

One thing I've always loved about the cancerarc in seasons four and five is the way that Scully's struggle with cancer also causes her to struggle with her complacent approach to faith. As her mortality becomes real to her, so does her view of what follows, and she's not sure that it's something she wants to face.

Philes tend to have mixed reactions to Scully's faith, but I love the way that it incorporates itself with a view of science that changes from simply finding evidence to putting that evidence to the test and to work. She learns to see science and faith as a way to find what is true, not just to confirm what she expects based on what she knows. In the same way, she starts out with a very accepting view of faith (Miracle Man, s1) but has it tested through her cancer (Redux II, s4), Emily (Christmas Carol, Emily, s5), various cases (All Souls s5, Signs and Wonders s7, Roadrunners s8.

Eventually, she comes full circle in I Want to Believe and realizes that faith does not mean you will be happy or that things will be easy. It is significant that the dying boy she is trying to save, Christian, has the same name as the faith she is dealing with. But it does mean that in the end you will do what you are meant to do, and it will work to the glory of God.

So whether you want to believe or not, it's a subject that I believe the series handles beautifully, for the most part.

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"I was raised a Catholic, and I have a certain familiarity with the scripture. And God never lets the Devil steal the show." - Scully, Miracle Man.

"SCULLY: Actually, I'd like to ask something. What was it you were praying for in there, sir?
FATHER JOE: For the salvation of my immortal soul.
SCULLY: And you think God hears your prayers?
FATHER JOE: Do you think he hears yours?"

- IWTB