How Powerful is Belief?

I remember a call I received from a funeral director wondering if I would be willing to do a memorial service for a 30 year old mother/wife who was found dead that morning. When I began walking with the family through this difficult time, it was apparent that they were avoiding the cause and or circumstances around her death. At one point I received a call from the coroner who later met with me and here is what he said. He informed me that there was no physiological reason for this woman to be dead. Her organs were fine, there was no heart attack or stroke. There was no embolism in the brain that ruptured. There were no toxins or poisons in her system to cause her death. They found her lying in her bed, very peaceful. There were no signs of foul play. He looked at me and told me that he has seen this kind of death maybe 2-3 times in his lifetime. All I can tell you he said, is that she laid down and "willed" herself to die. This of course points to something in her life that was so evil that she would literally believe herself to death. (that is another story) Our beliefs, right or wrong, dictate what we see, how we feel, and the eventual choices we make. Now relate this to our thinking about God, family, politics and every aspect of life? If our beliefs have that kind of power, it is easier to understand why in light of overwhelming evidence, why people still choose to believe what they believe. It isn't about facts, it is about what I believe the facts to be. A source of truth and a foundation for beliefs outside of ourselves becomes all the more important. But all this really messes with the head doesn't it.