Study finds prayer benefits heart patients

Cardiac Patients Who Received intercessory prayer in addition to coronary stenting appeared to have better clinical outcomes than those treated with standard stenting therapy alone, according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

Their results further suggest that using rigorous scientific methods to study the therapeutic value of prayer and other noetic interventions appears feasible and warrants larger-scale, more definitive investigations. Noetic interventions are defined as "a healing influence performed without the use of a drug device or surgical procedure," said the researchers. . . .

"This is an important study because it provides preliminary information suggestive of a positive effect that needs further study in a larger study sample," said Dr. Harold G. Koenig, associate professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center, and one of the study authors. "Some of the greatest scientific achievements have come from those who step outside the box, and I believe that is what this study does. The results tend to lean toward prayer helping people, but more study is needed."

Ascribe Newswire The Public Interest Newswire October 31, 2001

Spiritual strength increases quality of life

"According to research in an article in the September-October issue of Science & Spirit, people who identify themselves as religious live, on average, seven years longer than those who don't. The article goes on to say that a recent study funded by he US Department of Defense debunks the old platitude linking religiosity with submissiveness. On the contrary, this research associates spiritual well-being with the fighting spirit.

" 'That definitely goes against the grain,' says lead scientist Elisabeth Targ, director of the Complementary Medicine Research Institute at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco. 'We found, among other things, that those who had higher degrees of spiritual well-being had greater quality of life, as measured by less depression and lower anxiety.' "

Sara Solovitch "Beyond Reconstruction" Science & Spirit

SILENT MINUTE PRAYER

The London-based charity "Silent Minute-Prayer for Peace" invited the world to join in a moment of prayer for peace beginning on November 11 and every day thereafter at 9 p.m. local time. The following "Silent Minute-Peace Prayer" originated in 1994:

Nobel physicist speaks on relationship between faith and science

William Phillips' life changed in more than one way after the impromptu press conference for his 1997 Nobel Prize in physics. "I said something like, 'There are many people I want to thank, and I'd also like to thank God for giving us such a wonderful and interesting universe to explore," the Gaithersburg, [Maryland,] resident said in an interview.

Such accolades for a deity, which are rare in Nobel settings, put Mr. Phillips on the radar screen of the science and religion movement. [On October 21, 2001] the churchgoing physicist addressed a main showcase of the movement, the Science and Spiritual Quest II conference at Harvard University. . . .

Mr. Phillips. . . attends Fairhaven United Methodist Church in Gaithersburg because he takes the deity personally. "Einstein's god, who is really just the laws of nature, is not for me," he said. "I'm strongly of the conviction that God is personal, and this is the foundation of my faith." But he wonders whether science could ever really touch that question, let alone prove anything about the God he worships.

"Let's imagine we do learn a lot more, and it is really pointing us to the idea of a Creator," Mr. Phillips said. "It's difficult to see how that will point to a Creator who wants a personal relationship with us, who loves us, who wants us to love each other, who has expectations for us that come to us by the wisdom of the Scriptures."

Still, he said, both science's limits and its findings could bolster believers in a world of doubt. "Some things about science," he said, "give you the impossibility of ruling out divine intervention."

Larry Witham
"Putting faith in science"
The Washington Times
October 22, 2001
©2001 News World Communications, Inc.
Reprinted with permission

PHILANTHROPIST SEES POSITIVE FUTURE

When asked if he felt we're looking ahead to "a rather grim era," Mr. Soros remarked, "Not necessarily because every . . . trial has its opportunities. I think that if we [the United States] now reconsider our role in the world and take a more positive role, I think that we may actually end up with a better world than we had before."

Interview with Daniel Schorr and world-renowned philanthropist George Soros November 3, 2001 National Public Radio "Weekend Edition" "Globalization"

The Bible and Koran offer comfort to those in fear

Since the September 11 tragedies and the beginning of US military reaction, some [religious] leaders said they have cited the 23rd Psalm to help parishioners overcome unhealthy, fearful emotions. The Psalmist said: "I will fear no evil." And this religious passage is among hundreds that calm the faithful and can overcome unhealthy fears through faith in God and by embracing divine love.

"Even in the most dire circumstances, [Psalm 23] provides a sense of a God who accompanies us, a God who feels our anxieties and who experiences our anxieties along with us," said Rabbi Ned Soltz of Arlington [Texas]. "There's a comfort of feeling a God who provides protection as well as that same God who empathizes with our innermost emotions."

Moujahed M. Bakhack, imam of the Islamic Association of Tarrant County [Texas], said that the Quran offers guidance for overcoming fear. "There's a part that says without remembrance of God, there will be no peace and tranquility," Bakhaek said. "So when you counsel people on fear, you tell them it is a time to turn to God, to put your trust in God, and that will help you overcome every problem."

Brett Hoffman "Putting fear in its place" Fort Worth Star-Telegram October 20, 2001