August 1, 1999

Dear Parishioners,

If I say my prayers, will I still get the flu??? The rapidly expanding research on the relationship between faith and good health raises some interesting questions. In "The Healing Power of Faith" a psychiatrist at Duke University reports that individuals with a strong personal faith who attend religious services once a week live, on average, seven years longer than those who do not. Religious persons are 40% less likely to have high blood pressure! (That will be a surprise to my doctor!) They are less likely to suffer depression and recover from mental illness more quickly. Elderly "believers" have a stronger sense of well being and avoid disabilities longer than their less religious peers. And some preliminary research studies indicate that individuals recover faster from disease and surgery if others pray for them, even from a distance and without the knowledge of the patient.

What are Christian believers to make of the mounting evidence that religion plays a positive role in health? There's need for some initial caution. First of all, our faith is not dependent on scientific research which can offer some interesting corroborating evidence, but never the foundation for belief in a God who transcends our world and its microscopes. Secondly, we need to avoid jumping to questionable assumptions and false conclusions. For example, mainline Christianity rejects any suggestion that faith in God is a substitute for ordinary medical procedures. It also rejects the assumption that good health is a direct result of specific religious practices or that illness is a direct consequence of lack of faith or immoral behavior. Religious practices are not a form of magic to ward off illness; spirituality is not primarily about longevity or survival; prayer can't be reduced to a means for obtaining good health.

Prayer for healing is still very much a part of our faith and practice. I believe God's compassionate love for us is unconditional and unbounded but at the same time the divine power is limited by the laws of the created world. In other words, God want us to be well, but does not intervene to break the laws of nature or retard the aging process. But we need not think of our prayers for healing as requests for exceptional interventions. God is not an aloof bystander waiting for our call to make an emergency appearance. The Spirit is already present in our world with all the healing power that a material, evolving world of free people can absorb or utilize. Prayer opens our hearts and minds to that divine power and nourishing strength. It unleashes healing energy that defies empirical analysis. Rather than strange events that "break the laws of nature", remarkable cures can be seen as striking signs that reveal the ever-present power of God who creates a world with more potential than we can ever imagine.

In reflecting on the power of prayer, it's often helpful to distinguish between cures and healings. Often our prayers for the sick do not issues in a physical cure but rather in diverse types of healing: a greater courage to carry on, a calmer spirit in facing death, a sense of forgiveness for past faults, a reconciliation with alienated family or friends. Even without a cure, the healing power of God is at work.

Finally death has its place too. Although death remains mysterious and frightening, it is the only chance we have of finding a complete fulfillment for the longings of the human heart. An unending life on this earth would eventually doom us to unending frustration. Our traditional creeds remind us there is far more in store for us, and they express our deepest hopes by affirming the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting as our ultimate destiny.

Your Pastor,

Brian T. Joyce