WELCOME March 15, 1999 Issue

To Our Readers

William E. Moody

Four years ago, when I had the opportunity to attend the first "Spirituality and Healing in Medicine" conference sponsored by Harvard Medical School, one of the sessions focused on the curative effects of placebos. That session stirred considerable interest among the one thousand health care professionals, clergy, and spiritual caregivers in attendance. (A report on the most recent conference appears on page 14.)

One researcher offered medical evidence for some rather dramatic effects resulting from unmedicated tablets and even from surgery that was not "real" surgery. People's physical conditions improved markedly whether they took the actual drugs or the unmedicated pills. All of this has led a growing number of physicians to investigate the effects of a patient's state of thought, his or her beliefs, on bodily health.

In this week's Cover Story, contributing editor Richard Bergenheim takes the discussion to another level. He reasons that although a person's beliefs may have considerable impact on the efficacy of any curative treatment, there is something else that is truly vital to real healing and wholeness. That "something" has to do with one's relationship with God. It's actually about spiritual understanding. As the article "Going beyond placebos" confirms, genuine healing occurs through "an awakening to the Mind of Christ"—through being conscious of the absolute goodness of God "and the perfection of His creation."

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