Healing

"Faith-healing" sometimes has little to do with faith, but is often triggered by the "placebo" effect. When the mind powerfully expects something, it can often occur. In wartime emergencies, for example, people were often given sugar-pills and told that they were very powerful pain-killers, and the pain-level dropped from twenty to eighty percent. Those given the same worthless pills, and told that they were sedetives, fell asleep seven out of ten times.

The mind has been given huge power by God. It cannot, of course, cure all diseases and disorders, but science has no idea what might be its limits. A lot of wishful thinkers, still practicing childish "magical thinking," as psychologists call it, claim that the mind has no limits.
But it does.

Many faith-healers claim to "cure" conditions that might have been imaginary from the beginning. Since that "condition" was caused by thinking, it was fairly easy to "cure," by changing the thinking.

Belief is related to, but not quite the same as, faith. Often, a person can be cured simply by switching to the belief that she is well. Still, a cure might not be one hundred percent. Many healers claim one hundred percent cures, when the condition returns 20 minutes, or 20 days, later. Sometimes, other people simply get better, and mistake this for a cure. And, it has been reported, some people actually get worse after the "healing."

So, many results can occur. Still, this soundly skeptical attitude should not be extended to a full denail of all healing. For healing is a true gift of God, and some very loving people can truly aid with physical disorders and disabilities.

But if Jesus were actually working through these "healers," the success-rate would likely be much higher and more impressive. Many "healers" are natural hypnotists, able to hypnotize or mesmerize certain suggestible persons that they are feeling better, or even getting well. The power of the mind under hypnosis can be greatly increased. A person can be burned by a normal-temperature object if told that it is very hot, under hypnosis. After the "show," however, symptoms can recur, without any improvement.

Sometimes, true healings do occur. Do the "healers" cause these? Probably not, although they might have an effect. For total cures have been recorded when no healer was present. In medicine, this is called "spontaneous remission," and it occurs quite frequently. At times, it can be triggered by prayer, meditation, or visualization. But it can also occur when one is doing nothing in particular. It has occurred while people were skiing, or watching a silly sitcom on tv.

The bottom line is this: In God's plans for us, He has determined that some of us will be tested by the challenge of biological or biomedical disorders. Our souls have agreed to this, before our birth. If and when the test is complete, the condition and its symptoms can disappear. (Some are meant,and designed, to last a lifetime-- not long in soul-history.) God can heal us at any time. God can use any symbol to heal us. God can heal us through a deep breath, a touch of sunlight, petting a dog. God can heal us through education in nutrition and exercise (both of which awaken selflove). God can also use a healer, or a toaster, to heal us, according to God's will.

Illness is a great test of faith. If God does not heal a person, it does not mean that God is evil, or that God is angry with that person. It simply implies that she has more to learn; the lesson is not over yet. And some people will never be healed of a particular condition. Does this mean that they have not enough faith? No, it simply means that their soul has designed this life for them to learn whatever they can. If a person decides to spend an entire life with a medical condition, that is only two minutes in the larger life of the soul.

There are also many places that are famous for healing, proving again that God does not need a "healer"to heal.

And, in the final anallysis, Love is the only healing energy in the cosmos. Each time that you love yourself or another, a healing occurs. It might be a small healing, too small even to notice; but these add up. So, we do best to follow the guidance of the Spirit, and love at every opportunity. This we do through forgiveness, compassion, teaching, healing, kindness, charity, and tenderness.
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