Editorial January 8, 1996 Issue

Respect for spiritual healing

William E. Moody

Increasingly the subject of spiritual healing is being taken seriously in both religious and medical circles today. Under the direction of Dr. Herbert Benson last month, Harvard Medical School, The Mind/Body Medical Institute, and Deaconess Hospital presented a three-day conference in Boston called "Spirituality & Healing in Medicine." Representatives from a number of major religious groups, including the Church of Christ, Scientist, discussed the healing practices of their respective faiths. Doctors and nurses who have begun to incorporate spiritual healing in their practices also shared their experiences.

Attendants at the sessions included physicians, nurses, healthcare professionals, clergy, and people who had come simply to learn more about spiritual healing. For example, an attorney, who has experienced healing in his own life, traveled from Michigan to attend. He told me of his ongoing search and why he had been interested in the conference: "I think there are dimensions to the human spirit and capacities that we just haven't scratched the surface of yet. Probably, if I had one goal in my life, it would be to understand and to heal as Jesus did." (A report on this conference will be featured in next week's issue of the Sentinel.)

This developing interest in spiritual healing is, in fact, taking place in many areas throughout the world. And it isn't occurring only in the major metropolitan areas or at prestigious institutions of learning and research. It's also happening at small churches holding regular healing services and in the private offices of medical doctors praying with their patients. It's happening in towns and neighborhoods almost everywhere you look.

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