Conference lgp30::christian-perspective

    I attended a Council of Churches healing service last fall.  It
    was interesting, though long.  There was a time for testimony
    and then a chair was placed at the end of each of the two aisles
    and anyone who wanted to do so was invited to go forward one at a 
    time (with a companion if they wished) for laying on of hands, 
    prayers, and hugs.  There was music during this, too.
    
    The sermon was by the chaplain at the local hospital, who talked
    about being on her way to some meeting and having her hearing
    restored!  
    
    But *then* she went on to talk about the healing that
    came *after* her hearing was restored, as she was forced to
    deal with all the things that her hearing problem had previously
    helped her to avoid!

    Richard,
    
    just to be a 'devil's advocate' here.. you realize that before
    the germ theory of disease and any serious understanding of
    anatomy, much less any understanding of *why* a particular
    herb cured a disease, medicine wasn't that far removed from
    magic...
    
    so to quote Luke as if he were a modern day physician isn't exactly
    true to fact!
    
    :-)
    
    Bonnie

    Re: .2
    
    Your point is well taken.
    
    On the other hand, there's still so much that modern medicine doesn't
    know that I suspect that 2000 years from now they'll say similar things
    about our present primitive thinking.  They say that doctors "practice
    medicine," and that if they keep practicing, maybe someday they'll get
    it right. ;-}
    
    I never met a doctor or a nurse who was an atheist.  Many modern
    doctors report unexplainable or miraculous healings.
    
    Peace,
    Richard

    I find the "by your faith you have been healed" feeling to be very much
    like a lot of the "minding the body, mending the mind", mind/body
    connection books I've read.  If you BELIEVE you will heal, you may well
    heal.  "Love, Medicine, and Miracles" showed me that the survival rate
    for cancer victims increases - or at least their time alive and quality
    of life increases - if they life FIERCELY, and with fervor.  
    
    Religion and belief is often the cornerstone of people's spirit -
    something they can hold to steadfastly, something which propels them
    and drives them and makes them strong.  This kind of belief is
    wonderful when it leads to something positive, like compassion, and
    healing, and doing great things in the world.
    
    I have seen the 12-15 busloads of infirm people brought to the
    Worcester Auditorium when Fr. Ralph Diorio does his healing sessions. 
    I have never been to one, but why would people keep going back if they
    didn't feel their faith would heal them, that they would be touched
    divinely and made well?  They still believe in miracles....
    
    -Jody

    The assumption that one can be healed spiritually has been in my family
    for as long as I can remember.  A useful book on the subject is Larry
    Dossey's Recovering the Soul.  
    
    I have attended three of Fr DiOrio's services.  At the first service,
    my friend, who'd been diagnosed as having MS had a partial remission,
    and now, doctors tell him that if he does have MS, it's not following
    the normal course.
    
    I believe healing has occurred through me, but it seems more often that
    it does not.  In addition, I have been healed on more than one
    occasion, but on the other hand, I continue to have a body that needs
    further wholeness.
    
    One of the century's most devout Christians, Edgar Cayce, practiced
    healing by remote diagnosis.  Cayce was a modern seer whom many
    Christians reject as having been "occult", but it is a fact that he
    read the Bible cover-to-cover once for every year of his life, and the
    characters in the Bible were as real to him as any modern person.
    
    In a recent retreat, we took the concept and practice of healing to the
    earth around the participants' homes.  
    
    DR

Our priest at St Francis Episcopal Church have regular healing
prayers, annointing the body, and laying on of hands for the
requestor. I have received healing from this process. As a
priest, I have prayed for and laid hands on my mother several
times; every time that I get up to see her in eastern Canada.
My mother was given 6 months to live back in October of 1988; she
is not healed (as in most cases of cancer; just in remission.)

Jesus empowered his deciples to heal spiritually as well as
physically. Through the laying-on of hands on the newly
consecrated priest, I can trace my empowerment back to Saint
Peter. When one is ordained, it is humbling to know that I have
the linage of Christianity empowering me.

calvin

    One of the priests at the Episcopal church I attend does a healing
    service (ie. laying on of hands) once a month just prior to the 10:30
    service.  I haven't had the opportunity to witness this as yet, but
    plan to do so in the near future.  As an amateur Polarity practitioner
    I'm very much interested in the subject.
    
    This Sunday, I will be attending an all day workshop given by a
    Catholic priest, Father Rizzo who does this type of healing work here
    in the U.S. and also in South America.
    
    Ro
     

    
    	Ro,
    
    	What is a 'Polarity practitioner'??????

Hi Ed,

Polarity is a system which works to bring the life energies of the body into
a state of balance.  It is the science of balancing the Life Energy in the
human body.  Vital energy circuit and fields in the body are the basic factors
in this work.  Polarity relaxes the whole person so that the body may be able
to use its own natural intelligence to heal itself.  I'll send you a more
complete description offline.

Because I believe this Life Energy comes from the Divine, that the practioner
is but an instrument through which this energy flows to the subject, it is
very much in keeping with my Christian-perspective.

Thanks for asking,

Ro

    I am becoming increasingly aware of the healing that is occuring
    within this conference.  Has anyone else sensed the healing?
    
    Richard

    RE: .10    Richard and I hope to all!,
    
    
                     Yes, Richard, I think there has been a healing.  And
    isn't it wonderful?  You know, I just left a notes file because I no
    longer felt that I was welcome.  Here it *IS* just the opposite!
    
                     I feel that Jews and Christians, Men and Women, Black
    and White, Gay and straight  *ARE* welcome here...and If I left *ANY*
    minority out please include yourself....we *WANT* you.  This file is
    for any who wish to "lovingly" associate with other caring people to
    relate about a God that loves and cares for you.  I promise to not
    dictate my thoughts and beliefs at you.  I will tell you about them but
    after that its your decision. :^)  I also *WANT* to hear and discuss
    your beliefs.  We are all equal before God...can I do any less?
    
    
    I love you,
    Dave

    in re healing,
    
    my dad's brain cancer has been arrested and he is regaining a lot
    of the mentation he lost...
    
    I have to think that his healing was due to the many prayers
    said for him, some of them from here...
    
    Bonnie

    
    That's great news Bonnie!
    
    Carole

    Are you called to a healing ministry?  Do you personally need healing
    in your life?  In the near future, Fr. Rizzo (mentioned by Ro some
    notes back) will be leading a seminar on healing.  For further
    information, write me at
    
    			WMOIS::REINKE
    
    or call at
    
    			DTN 241-3220
    		(home)  508-249-2019 
    
    DR

	We each choose do deal with our woundedness in any number of ways.
Some have chosen to integrate their woundedness.  Others attempt to deny it.
Some strive to transcend it.  Others dwell on it.

	A friend of mine once observed that when her foot was in a cast
people treated her more kindly, with greater consideration than when she
bore no visible evidence of an injury.  In her wisdom, she resolved that
she would begin treating every person with whom she came in contact with
a greater measure of kindness and consideration.  She came to a realization
that anyone who's been exposed to life long enough has been wounded.  And
visible or not, broken or whole, all are worthy of the compassion that's
normally afforded only the visibly wounded.

Richard
    

	I've been watching a taped PBS series "Bill Moyer's 'Healing and
the Mind.'"  One of the segments focuses on an experiment with 2 test groups
of women, all of whom have been diagnosed with terminal cancer of a type
which usually results in death within 2 years.  One test group of women
receives medical care.  The other group also receives medical treatment,
but in addition, the women agree to meet once a week on an ongoing basis.
The women who met once a week lived an average of 18 months longer than the
women who received only medical treatment.

Richard