Prayer That Heals – A Reason for Blogging

Today I have the pleasure of sharing this post from the blog of Shannon Horst, Christian Science Committee on Publication for New Mexico.  Her story is a clear and compelling example of why people, such as Shannon and I, choose Christian Science as their health care system.  It works!  John D. Clague, Christian Science Committee on Publication for Oregon.

For readers who follow this blog, you know that I generally post an original piece on Monday every week. Well, yesterday, I had every intention of doing just that. But, let me share with you what happened because it is the very reason I am blogging.

Sunday night, after a lovely evening spent with my family and my brother, his wife and kids, I planned to head to my office and write my blog so that it could be posted very early Monday. But, after returning home from dinner out, I was hit with a sudden illness. I cannot tell you what it was but I can tell you that in the space of about 90 minutes I went from being fine to feeling so unwell that I could barely hold my head up or think straight. I could not find any comfortable position except to pace back and forth across one room.

As I always do, I turned to God in prayer. The prayer I engaged in is considered a scientific “treatment” in Christian Science and it is specific and designed to heal one of any illness. Sunday night, my prayer included affirmation of God’s allness and goodness and the fact that God is all cause and effect. It included my refusal to accept that I was anything less than God’s child – His actual outcome and reflection. It included my refusal to accept that I was subject to a virus or germs, because I have come to understand through studying Christian Science that I am actually a spiritual idea and not a material object. Lastly, I fully expected healing and gave gratitude to God in anticipation of a return to normalcy.

When, after about an hour, I still did not feel well, I called my mother and asked for her to pray with me. In about 20 minutes, the symptoms began to abate. In an hour they were entirely gone. I lay down and slept soundly through the night.

I did not get my blog written Sunday night. But, I experienced a clear and, for me, undeniable example of healing through prayer in Christian Science. It was quick, effective and affordable. My own experiences give me my reasons for wanting to be sure that scientific prayer is part of our nation’s search for solutions to its so-called “healthcare crisis.”

By Shannon Horst, Christian Science Committee on Publication for New Mexico

Beyond Coping to Healing

Today’s guest post is by a friend and colleague, Bob Clark, Christian Science Committee on Publication for Florida.  His post is a beautiful discussion of where we need to be after dealing with a crisis.  Just coping may actually be more harmful than the healing that is necessary and  possible.  I know you will find Bob’s post interesting and helpful.  John D. Clague, Christian Science Committee on Publication for Oregon.

There’s coping with a crisis….and then there’s healing it. And there’s a world of difference between the two. Healing is about transformation and renewal. Coping is about making do, staying put…just dealing with it.

Here’s an example. A good friend’s daughter made an award winning documentary about 9/11 called, “New York Says Thank You”. I hope you’ll take the time to watch it, because it documents the process of a huge collective healing. It shows how we can go beyond just dealing with it to healing it. It shows real lives being transformed, lifted out of crisis mode and healed.

As I was watching “New York Says Thank You” it made me think of other examples of the difference between coping and healing. For instance, our national health care system, at the center of such rancorous political debate right now, needs to move beyond the ruinously expensive business of managing or coping with disease to healing it. How can this happen?

Ten years ago at this time, in the wake of the 9/11 disaster, churches were overflowing. Attendance at churches, synagogues and mosques was peaking. Hollywood and pro sports were on hold. We all “got religion” so to speak. And healing began immediately. Nobody wanted to linger in the ashes of shock and grief. We immediately rallied as a nation. Our love for each other poured out and into Lower Manhattan. The healing process began immediately…and has continued for over a decade now.

Can we move our health care crisis beyond coping to healing? And can our collective response to 9/11 serve as a model? I think so. A collective, focused, prayerful response has immense power, as we saw in the weeks and years following 9/11. There are ways to move forward and innovations that can take shape as the result of prayer.

An October 14, 2008 editorial in the The Christian Science Monitor told us that “Paradigm-shattering innovation is clearly needed in healthcare reform.” The article, “Keep Choice in Health Care”, offers some valuable insights about moving together, as a nation, beyond coping with our health crisis to healing it.

We know how to move beyond the static state of coping to the dynamic power of healing. We’ve done it before. We can do it again.

by Robert B. Clark, Christian Science Committee on Publication for Florida

Storytelling and healing

By John D. Clague, Christian Science Committee on Publication for Oregon

I’ve been thinking about how the stories we hear and tell are a powerful way of learning and connecting.  Through our stories we connect with our past, we experience the present, and we anticipate the future.

Many sacred texts such as the Bible are a compilation of stories that were passed on orally from generation to generation.  When the written word, and the ability to read, became more common and widespread, these stories were committed to writing for the benefit of posterity.

As a Christian and a student of the Bible, I find that sincerely studying and pondering these stories enriches my life in many ways.  One of those ways is that my health is restored and maintained through understanding my relationship with God. Today, many are learning how to heal others and themselves through understanding the deeper meaning of these Bible narratives.

But that isn’t the end of the story.  Sharing with others our own healing is just as important as the stories told in the Bible.  Sharing with others continues the collective story of God’s love for His creation, and is a source of new inspiration that can be used in our own lives.

Six contemporary accounts of spiritual healing can be found through the link below.  In these videos, people talk about how Christian Science has restored their health.  Do you have a story of healing to share? Please do for us all.

http://christianscience.com/press-room/healthcare-and-christian-science/lives-lived/

Can the Thoughts of Those Around Us Influence Our Health?

This is a question that we all need to seriously consider.  If it’s true, what can we do about it?  What responsibility do we have for the health of those around us?  Are we contributing to their well-being, or are we having a negative effect on them.  All important questions to reflect upon. In his blog post, my friend and colleague Bill Scott, Christian Science Committee on Publication for the state of Washington, discusses these issues.  You will find it by clicking the link below.  John D. Clague, Christian Science Committee on Publication for Oregon.

Click here to read Bill’s discussion.

Placebos are not the endgame.

By John D. Clague, Christian Science Committee on Publication for Oregon

The Institute of Medicine released a report in June describing the prevalence of chronic pain in America. They report that it “affects at least 116 million American adults—more than the total affected by heart disease, cancer, and diabetes combined. Pain also costs the nation up to $635 billion each year in medical treatment and lost productivity.”

These astounding numbers are so large that finding a solution for this health problem should be a high priority for the health care community. The report offers many recommendations but little was offered in how to eliminate pain.

One approach to treating pain and other maladies, is the use of placebos. Some researchers see evidence that it rivals more traditional medical treatments in effectiveness, and yet is less expensive and doesn’t carry with it negative side effects. Jane E. Allen of the ABC News Medical Unit writes in a July 14, 2011 article “Placebo Effect Rivals Steroid Benefit for Asthmatics”:

“In the newest demonstration of how healing can be triggered by patients’ expectations of what medical attention can do for them, placebo treatments were as good as real medication in making asthmatic patients feel they were breathing more easily.

Daniel E. Moerman, an expert on the placebo effect at the University of Michigan-Dearborn said “patients’ feelings about what helps them feel better trump the judgment of the physician.” In those cases, he wrote, dummy pills “can be as useful as ‘real’ ones.”

On one level it’s encouraging to see the scientific community recognize, in this limited way, that the mind of the patient has an affect on his health. That’s clearly what’s at work when placebos are effective in treating physical conditions, including pain. The medical research makes this point. We should not, however, see the use of placebos in treating pain, or any other medical condition, as the final solution. But it can point researchers in new directions for more effective pain care.

In my exploration of how consciousness and spirituality, as practiced in Christian Science, affect health I’ve found that positive results extend far beyond the possibilities described by those who do research on placebos. I’ve come to realize that the conscious application of spiritual laws can bring healing to many medical conditions.  I’ve personally experienced it and seen it proven by others. Many of these accounts of healing are reported in Christian Science literature, and on the Christian Science websites. Click here to read one such account where the writer is permanently healed of cluster headaches.

Anecdotal evidence? Perhaps. But maybe “eyewitness evidence” would be a better term. In a legal courtroom it wouldn’t be discounted as illegitimate or irrelevant.

Because placebos involve some deception, the placebo shouldn’t be seen as the answer to the question of “how does consciousness affect health?” Rather, it should be taken as evidence that consciousness does affect health, but the extent to which this occurs goes far beyond the use of “fake” medical treatment. It’s through exploring, and coming to understand, the spiritual nature of man that permanent healing of pain, not just temporary relief, can be brought about.

To me, spirituality is the endgame, which not only makes the patient better physically, but also benefits him mentally and spiritually. Patients then feel as if they have been, not just tricked into health, but made new from the inside out.