Let me give you an example. 

Frequently I would find myself repeatedly correcting a piano student about how they played a wrong note—all music teachers can relate to this, I’m sure!  I would, for instance, say “It’s a G-sharp.” They in turn would nod understandably and then proceed to play the same G-natural that they had just played. I would again say “G-sharp” and they would play “G-natural.”  And so the dance would go for a little while.

My wife (who would sometimes be in an adjacent room and hear the lessons) and I would afterwards humorously refer to this process as the “G-sharp phenomenon”—a phenomenon which didn’t restrict itself to any age group, level of education, or professional achievements.

It became clear to me that in their earnestness and desire to do the right thing, the pupils had become so overly focused that they were oblivious to my corrections.  They mistakenly thought that if they just kept repeating the passage over and over again that somehow, by sheer dint of effort, they would miraculously get it right.  It was a type of self-hypnotism—nothing less than that. 

What did I do?

In order to catch their attention, I would firmly put a stop to it which startled their thought and broke the tunnel vision.  I then made them simply think through—note by note, rhythm by rhythm—what the music was requiring them to do.  This basic technique invariably led to them playing the passage accurately without any intervening practice on their part.  Once they understood exactly what it was they needed to do, their fingers reproduced it.  Their body responded under the right understanding of the music.

Good news for all of the music teachers out there to be sure!  And good news for all of us, too.

Why?

Because the same process can affect our health and our well-being.

If we continuously accept a model of health that involves a wrong answer—one in which inevitable deterioration, illness, disease, and decrepitude becomes our conception of life—then in many ways aren’t we behaving just like those students?  Unflinchingly looking to the same one method—a method based on surgery and drugs—a method that may, and often can, fall short of our hopes and desires? 

I’ve seen how stopping to think can bring about significant improvements to my health.  What could I possibly be thinking about that would yield such a result?  My—our—unbroken, permanent connection to an all-loving God.  A God whose help is always available.  A relationship that is entirely spiritual.  It’s the relationship that the Scriptures speak of in Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

And it’s a relationship that I’m continuing to learn more about in my study of Christian Science—a system of both health care and spiritual growth—that’s proved repeatedly effective for me and for many others. 

A method that anyone can avail themselves of and see firsthand how they can learn to play a “G-sharp” instead of a “G-natural”!

A distinguished panel comprised of Jillian Michaels, Billie Jean King, Dr. David Satcher, Richard Gephardt, and Dr. Mark Hyman, and moderated by President Clinton, discussed the need for community-based, one-on-one wellness initiatives.  The consensus was clearly in favor of a grassroots approach—an approach that would not only change our population’s health habits, but in turn save our country from an eventual financial meltdown due to the unsustainable costs of health care.

At one point, the President said that the whole system of health care should be geared to keeping people healthy rather than just treating them after they become sick.  Without a doubt a good idea and one that has been gaining traction in medical fields for the past couple of years.

The panelists focused on such areas as nutrition and exercise.  Ms. King remarked that only 4% of elementary schools, 8% of middle schools, and 2% of high schools still had physical education classes—programs having been cut for financial reasons.

One point that was repeatedly stressed was the need for a cultural change—a cultural reformation—when it comes to health.  One that would re-educate people into realizing what health is and how to maintain it.

And it was that last premise—a cultural reformation—that particularly caught my attention.  I agree with the panelists that such a change needs to take place—including many of their sensible recommendations about food and exercise.  

However, it seems to me that such a change—one that would be lasting—needs to first occur on a much deeper and more fundamental level.  A level which brings about a transformation of thought.  A transformation that rests squarely on a spiritual foundation in which God is recognized as the ultimate source of our health. 

Is this a pie-in-the-sky concept?  Not at all.  I’ve seen how basing my thinking on that very concept—a concept that Mary Baker Eddy discovered and then elucidated in the system of health care she named Christian Science—has for the past 22 years transformed, revitalized, and regenerated my health and well-being.

Is this something that’s available to anyone regardless of class, ethnicity, gender, religion, age, or race?  Most assuredly.  Does it begin with each individual recognizing their God-given right to health and a means to employ it?  Definitely.

What’s more grassroots than that?

Photo: President William Jefferson Clinton, 42^nd President of the United States: Public Domain.

Pride and Prejudice 

I grew up in Grafton, Massachusetts in the 1950’s.  At that time, Grafton was very rural.  Small town center, dairy farms, wooden-structured schools, Boy and Girl Scouts, no supermarkets, woods, streams, fields, etc.—the whole nine yards.  It was an idyllic place to grow up—very Norman Rockwellesque.

Back then, the town was overwhelmingly white.  In fact, the only two African-Americans that I knew when I was a child were an elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who lived across the street from us when we lived at 8 North Main Street.  After school, Mrs. Smith would invite me over for cookies and milk—invitations which I readily accepted.  Both of the Smiths were wonderful and I thought of them as additional grandparents.  I had no awareness of the color of their skin.  None.

The only prejudices that I can remember during my childhood had to do with religions and nationalities.  My family were Catholics and of French Canadian stock.  I can recall my mom and dad telling me that the Baptists, or the Congregationalists, or the members of any other religion, were not to be trusted.  According to my parents, those folks were going to end up in hell.  We could be “nice” to them, but that’s as far as it was supposed to go.

And then there was supposed to be a certain pecking order of nationalities.  Of course, French was at the top, followed by the English (I guess we French still had a lot of bad feelings left over from the Hundred Years War and the Napoleonic Wars!), which then proceeded to work its way in descending order through all of the remaining European nationalities that we were aware of.  As I said—overwhelmingly white. 

When I compared notes with my childhood chums, their parents were telling them similar things, albeit from whatever religious and ethnic traditions they were coming from. 

And it wasn’t until I went to high school, that I became aware of the prejudice about African-Americans—primarily through locker-room talk.  I regret to say that I fell into it, and forgot about Mr. and Mrs. Smith.  We had moved away from that part of town by then and the need for peer-acceptance was big.  Not an excuse.  Just what happened.

But whether it was about nationalities, religions, races, or genders, it was always about one group trying to assert their supposed and baseless superiority over another group.  It was always about pride.  That was the gateway.  That was the open door that attempted to fill the void of insecurities.  And I suspect, that’s at the root of all prejudice—adolescent or otherwise.  

Then I went off to college in Boston—the big city.  And there I encountered all kinds of people, from all kinds of backgrounds. 

Well, I started rebelling against all of the prejudice about nationalities and religions and races.  It was the ‘60’s and I joined whole-heartedly in the national foment.  It was a difficult time for our country.  Everything was up for grabs.  All values were being questioned and much was being thrown out with the proverbial bath water by my generation—for better or worse.   

One of the good things of that time for me, however, was that I began to question and uproot the lies of prejudice that I had learned.  And make no mistake, that’s exactly how prejudice happens.  It’s a learned, ignorant, and malicious way of thinking and behaving toward others.  One that’s utterly destructive to all concerned—including the person holding it.

We’ve seen the results of the blind, flaming whirlwinds of prejudice all too often in our country. 

Hopefully, we’re all thinking about the effects of unchecked bigotry and hatred on this national holiday as we take the time to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  To remember all that he, and so many others who stood for truth, equality, and freedom, did for our country and the world.  

Yes, for the world.  Racism is a plague that knows no borders.  A plague that needs to be and must be healed for progress and all of its attendant blessings to flow to all of humanity.  To every nook-and-cranny of the globe. 

And for me, and so many others like me, the surest way to heal that plague—that disease—is by living the Second Great Commandment that Jesus voiced and demonstrated over two millennia ago.  A commandment which can be found as a corner-stone in so many of the world’s religions.  A commandment that transcends all political, social, economic, and religious views.  A commandment that is at the core of all human progress. 

And what is that commandment?  “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Isn’t it time that we all—regardless of our faith-traditions or lack thereof—endeavor to live that idea?

Ultimately, I don’t see another lasting way. 

Photos: 1) Martin Luther King, Jr. Delivering the “I have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. (1963), Public Domain. 2) Martin Luther King Memorial, Carolyn Collie

This appears to be a novel approach to provide the consumer with quick and relatively inexpensive resources ($19.99) to help improve their wellness by accessing programs via such a ubiquitous major player in the consumer market. 

And in other related news the online site Disruptive Women in Health Care posted “Value and values will drive the adoption of mobile health” by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn.  The author discusses the rapidly growing area of mHealth in which doctors, patients, and consumers are able to access health information, prescriptions, etc., via smartphones, text messages, tablets, and similar vehicles, in a more timely and cost-effective manner. 

What occurs to me in each of these articles is the concept of immediacy in health care and the public’s rightful desire for it, and perhaps by implication, their frustration with the current time-consuming delivery systems that many patients endure in their search for better health and wellness.

And from what I’ve been seeing, this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. 

There’s a growing awareness in the medical field about the benefits of spirituality—spiritual, God-focused thought—on our wellness and health as researchers continue to explore and document this phenomenon.

Now let me ask the obvious question: What’s more immediate than thought?

And in this instance, what we call ourselves and others might even affect our health care choices and outcomes. 

In her “Lamenting the new medical language” on Boston.com’s White Coat Notes, Chelsea Conaboy wrote that The New England Journal of Medicine published a piece in which Doctors Pamela Hartzband and Jerome Groopman of Harvard Medical School advocate for a return to the terms “doctors and patients” instead of the currently fashionable nomenclatures of “providers, customers, and consumers.”

Their reasons?

The words “consumer” and “provider” are reductionist; they ignore the essential psychological, spiritual, and humanistic dimensions of the relationship — the aspects that traditionally made medicine a “calling,” in which altruism overshadowed personal gain.

To have the psychological, spiritual, and human dimension—our sense of identity—be recognized by anyone who’s helping us with the health issues we’re facing is such an important and fundamental concept.

But all of this raises a deeper question.  One which to me points to our thought actually affecting our health—a phenomenon which a variety of medical research is also beginning to recognize. 

In 2010, the Mayo Clinic posted an article on their Stress management page (“Spirituality and stress relief: Make the connection”) about how spirituality has a positive effect on our ability to deal with stress and related physical problems.  The authors state:

Lead a healthier life. People who consider themselves spiritual appear to be better able to cope with stress and heal from illness or addiction faster.

That ability to heal faster due to a more spiritual thought about ourselves and others is exactly what I’ve seen in my own life.   

About 4 years ago I was involved in a pretty serious, 35 mph bicycle crash.  I was a mess.  Road rash all over, a chunk of my cheek ripped right out, and what my cycling buddies were sure was a fractured collar bone.  Not a pretty picture and a lot of pain.  My friends were certain that they wouldn’t see me again for 6 to 8 weeks. 

To say they were surprised when nine days later I joined them for an 80-mile ride—no scars, stiffness, restricted movement, or fear—would be an understatement.  

How could this happen?  I relied on a system of health care based on spiritual thought—a system that took into account my whole identity.

What’s the take-away here? 

I think we’re just starting to see the tip of the iceberg.  We’re on the verge of beginning to understand a resource for health and wellness that may well revolutionize how medicine—in all its forms—is conducted and applied.

We may very well be embarking on a new perception of the interrelationship of health and spiritual identity.

So, what’s in a name?  Perhaps everything.

According to the article, there is a trend known as genetic fatalism which in essence argues that individuals really have no choice in what their behavior, beliefs, attitudes, health, etc. will be since genomes predetermine each.  This thesis avers that individuals should not, or need not, strive to improve themselves since they would ultimately be working against the innate grain of their mapped-out being.

Dr. Alexander points out that this trend actually is not supported by genetic research:

The reality is that recent genetics research has continued to move steadily away from any notion of genetic fatalism, highlighting the sheer complexity of the genome, and providing some fascinating examples of the ways in which our choices impact upon our own genomes.

Alexander is clearly a thoughtful individual who is wrestling with how one can correlate the theological concept of the “image and likeness of God” to modern scientific research’s assertion of the effects of genetics and epigenetics on humanity.

But I’ve got a different perspective on this issue.

For me, there is not an inconsequential parallel to the stifling theology of John Calvin’s doctrine of predestination and the supposed predeterminations of genetics.  

In the research that I’ve done into spiritual and medical thinker Mary Baker Eddy’s writings on health, wellness, spirituality, and character, it’s become clear that none of us have to submit to a model which would limit or narrow our lives.  On the contrary, the freedom and expansiveness which naturally accompany the recognition that we are indeed the spiritual image and likeness of an all-loving God is available to each of us.

So here’s a question.  Do we simply follow whatever the current trends are—submitting ourselves to their dictates—or do we embark on a path that allows us the choice to not only hope for a better life—including better health—but one in which we can actually experience it?   

Photo: Sixteenth-century portrait of John Calvin by an unknown artist. From the collection of the Bibliothèque de Genève (Library of Geneva), Public Domain.

Dr. Kaptchuk (Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School)—who was quoted in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal article that I wrote about—and Dr. Jonas (President and CEO, Samueli Institute; former Director of the Office of Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health) both spoke at length about “the placebo effect.” 

Why the follow-up?  Simply because there was more information about how placebos work. 

Both guests spoke about it ultimately boiling down to conditioned responses—learned responses—that begin in childhood when a mother kisses her child’s wound to make it better. That sense of another individual—later in the form of a physician—has great effect on the patient’s response to treatment.  Cultural expectations play a great role, also.

What I found most interesting is that each doctor’s research is: 1) clearly acknowledging the patient’s thinking, expectations, etc., as primal to the effect, and, 2) that this is an entirely new area of therapy that may be responsibly applied in the medical field. 

Over 100 years ago, renowned medical thinker, author, and founder of Christian Science and its system of health care, Mary Baker Eddy, wrote in her foremost book, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (p. 152):

It is related that Sir Humphry Davy once apparently cured a case of paralysis simply by introducing a thermometer into the patient's mouth. This he did merely to ascertain the temperature of the patient's body; but the sick man supposed this ceremony was intended to heal him, and he recovered accordingly. Such a fact illustrates our theories.

Clearly, “the placebo effect” was discovered long ago.  As with so many other areas in life, it often takes time for the general thought to catch up with advanced discoveries.  I, for one, am glad to see that current medical research is coming to what appears to be similar conclusions.  Namely, that thought—our thinking—can and does have a significant effect on our health. 

The next continued and logical step is one that Eddy also saw and proved so long ago—that spiritual thought leads to the establishment of a more secure and reliable foundation for health.  

“Why Placebos Work Wonders” by Shirley S. Wang reveals the latest thinking in medical research on why placebos have positive and beneficial effects on patients over a broad spectrum of health problems.

Ms. Wang reports that:

Studies across medical conditions including depression, migraines and Parkinson's disease have found that supposedly inert treatments, like sugar pills, sham surgery and sham acupuncture, can yield striking effects. A 2001 study published in Science found that placebo was effective at improving Parkinson's disease symptoms at a magnitude similar to real medication.

Similar studies have also shown placebos to be effective in treating asthma, infertility, and weight loss.

So the question remains: How do they work?

Wang cites Dr. Ted Kaptchuk, director of Harvard's Program in Placebo Studies and the Therapeutic Encounter, as saying that expectations play a role.

Even more likely is that patients were conditioned to a positive environment, and the innovative approach and daily ritual of taking the pill created an openness to change.

It’s clear to me that the crux of the matter is in the phrase “created an openness to change.”

It’s also evident that the change is in the realm of thought. 

What I’ve observed in my own and others’ experiences is that the openness of our thinking to accepting health and wellness as something that is the norm, rather than the exception, can and does have a commensurate effect on our lives in a multitude of ways—all good. 

I’m not talking about “positive thinking,” but rather a shift to a more spiritual basis.  One that recognizes that our essential nature has a deep and profound connection to an all-loving God—a connection that cannot be broken, impeded, or in any way disrupted. 

It’s a spiritual connection that actually transforms and regenerates.  It’s one that’s available to all of us.  And it’s one that’s ever-present. 

And it’s a connection that’s goes far beyond a placebo effect.

I had literally grown up with the 1959 Charlton Heston CinemaScope epic—having seen the first-run in the theater and many times since on TV.  Yet I hadn't known there was an older film until we saw an ad for it.  

It was nothing short of amazing.  As far as I'm concerned, there are many areas that simply surpass the newer version.  The sea battle scene and the chariot race were extraordinary—exceeding the highly-acclaimed 1959 version in terms of sheer excitement, cinematography, and realism.

Indeed, the whole film was immensely engaging.

And, yes, to be sure there was what contemporary audiences would consider the "overacting" of the silent film genre.  But I realized the absolute necessity of that style of acting in silent films since so much of the intent normally conveyed by audio dialogue rested instead on the shoulders of the visual gestures.

Prior to seeing it, I had wondered whether it would even be worth the trouble—given its date and all of the technological advances that had taken place in filmmaking in the intervening 34 years.

But after viewing the film—after experiencing it—I came away with a completely different perspective.  I recognized my presumption was really a “techno-prejudice” that would have kept me ignorant of the superb qualities of the original.

I had to ask myself how many other things in life am I—are we—making similar assumptions about?

For instance, one of the most prominent ones is that the only progress in health being made right now is in the development of new medical technologies—new drugs, new procedures, and new and more sophisticated scanning devices which enable doctors to peer into the anatomy at a hitherto unheard of degree.  It certainly is fascinating and kudos to all who are striving to bring relief to the vast sea of human suffering out there.

However, there is a downside to this—one which Dr. H. Gilbert Welch describes in his book Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health as causing many people to be wrongfully classified as being ill when in fact they are not. 

How could this happen?  These advanced technologies are showing up “abnormalities” that are totally benign and are in fact normal—results which then cast individuals into treatment that they do not need but which Dr. Welch states may:

…reflect more self-serving motives: healthcare companies, hospitals, and some doctors advise people to be screened because they are in the business of selling the service.

So what can be done?

Let’s examine our options carefully first rather than making the assumption that everything new in the realm of health is therefore automatically better.

There are older systems of health care that have over time proven to be effective—all without the aid of new technologies.  Specifically, I’m speaking about spiritually-based models. 

I, and many others, have experienced significantly improved health and well-being from employing a healthcare system that is based on spiritualized thought—Christian Science.  

And recent medical research is beginning to indicate how such thought has positive effects on health outcomes in a variety of ways—including those suffering with chronic pain. Ways that had not been considered by conventional medicine before. As Welch writes:

Health is also about how people feel; it is a state of mind.

So, the next logical questions we might ask are:  

Where does the cutting-edge in medicine actually reside—technology or thought?

What really constitutes progress?

As I’ve discovered, it’s worth taking the time to think about the anwers.

Photo: Ben-Hur (1925) film poster, public domain.

But these holidays—all of them, not just Christmas—are more than families and friends getting together, breaking bread, and exchanging gifts.  Far more.

Their significance has a deeper and more profound meaning.  A meaning that has great implications for all us—regardless of race, gender, age, creed, or doctrine.

It’s the recognition that there is an all-encompassing Truth.  A truth that is symbolized in many traditions.  And for me as a Christian, it’s the Christmas idea of the Nativity—a new birth of spiritual light into our individual and collective experiences.  Into our consciousness. 

A light which the Scriptures state as:

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

It’s that spiritual illumination which can bring health and harmony to each of our lives—an illumination that transcends theological, religious, and non-religious boundaries.

It’s a truth that we can see in every good act—no matter how large or small.  It dispels cynicism and promotes hope.  And it brings peace and comfort to those in need.

That light—that truth—impels humanity forward to a higher purpose, a better way, a more equitable experience for all of God’s creation. 

Eminently practical.  Always available.  Ever-present.