By: Richard Evans, Manager, Christian Science Committees on Publication Boston, MA — When Christian Scientists convened in Boston, Massachusetts, Monday, June 6, for the annual meeting of their denomination, they faced a question that many mainline Christian churches also confront: can church be relevant today? Their perspective on this question—as on just about everything else—runs
Hieroglyphs, those pictorial characters that the Egyptians used for language, were the way Mary Baker Eddy, 19th century pioneer in spirituality and health, described flowers. She said, “The floral apostles are hieroglyphs of Deity.” What an interesting connection. Flowers communicate – or picture – to us something about Deity. In their beauty, color and symmetry
If it is true that gratitude is good for health, then wouldn’t it be beneficial to actively be grateful on a consistent basis? In a study looking at a conscious focus on blessings, subjects expressing gratitude experienced a 25% increase in happiness and, get this: those with chronic health problems experienced better sleep. There are
A guest post written by Ingrid Peschke, a Christian Science practitioner and a legislative advocate for spiritual healing in Massachusetts. You can also read this post on her weekly syndicated blog, “Health Conscious” at MetroWest Daily News.
Ingrid Peschke (Photo courtesy of Ingrid Peschke)
Hope.
That’s the word I came away with this past weekend after I took part in a panel discussion on the topic of “Spirit and Healing in the 21st Century” at the Open Spirit Center in Framingham. The motto for the center: “A place of hope, health, and harmony” to address the deeper spiritual yearnings of the wider community.
I joined four local spiritual leaders on the panel, along with two keynote speakers: a clinical psychologist with a specialization in health psychology, and a cancer survivor.
A repeating theme was that spiritual practice is incredibly important, if not vital, to healing. Nancy Gaulin, the psychologist, opened the 3-hour event, speaking from her twelve years of experience in the greater Boston area. She said she spends more time now asking her patients about their spirituality and exploring their beliefs, their morals and values, and even discussing their family upbringing–all contributing factors to health and well-being.
Perhaps her prominence in the field of health is sometimes overlooked because of her historical association with a religion and the fact that medicine and medical research, in her day especially, were almost exclusively the purview of men.
In celebration of Women’s History Month the Huffington Post ran an article last month with pictures of “50 Women Who Shaped America’s Health“. Numerous comments were shared online noting that this list is incomplete.
The Huffington Post listened and added 5 more women taken from their readers’ input. That makes this list 50+5.
Certainly there are many more. But here’s one woman that surely should be included in the field of health – Mary Baker Eddy.
How much airtime does an issue need before that sets fire to our commitment for change? The award-winning documentary movie Escape Fire: The Fight To Rescue American Healthcare, until recently, has received relatively small attention. Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide, said, “The physical health of our nation and the cost of healthcare, impact every current
“Dr. Viggiano, noting that the act of taking a pill is often just an external trigger to what she describes as an internal or ‘central’ healing response, wonders what this tells us about our thoughts in terms of their effect on health and healing.” This observation comes from Dr. Darlene Viggiano at the Saybrook School
(Photo: © Glow Images, Models are used for illustrative purposes.)
The recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut pulls at the heartstrings of all of us. We long to know that everyone involved will soon find some measure of comfort and peace.
As we search for answers to why the tragedy unfolded in the first place and to how to help children who are suffering trauma recover, many have offered helpful ideas. One idea struck me as not only of benefit in dealing with trauma but also useful for preventing the illnesses that can accompany stress and emotional duress.
In a recent opinion piece¹ in Heritage-Media West newspapers, Smita Nagpal, a licensed psychologist and licensed professional counselor, advised, “Limit exposure to TV images and news coverage. The graphic images and repetitive scenes can be disturbing for children.” “Talk honestly about the incident, without graphic detail…”
Do you sometimes feel like a slave to disease? Or to its treatment? Or know someone who does? How do chapped lips, Abraham Lincoln’s visit to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and a case of poison ivy shed light on needed emancipation? Abraham Lincoln made only one visit to Michigan – to Kalamazoo in 1856. Why did he
Andew Weil, M.D. courtesy of greenlagirl
Andrew Weil, M.D., in “Why Our Health Matters” (page 43) writes, “Many doctors have told me about cases of spontaneous healing that they have witnessed in patients, some correlated with mental or emotional changes“.
So, how can we account for experiences like that? Or how can we explain healing accomplished in Christian Science through spiritual means alone?