Natural Healing Treatment: Spiritual Healing

Technology in the 21st century

Today's society stands as a multimedia monument to the scientific and technological triumphs of the past century. The radio crackled into life, man walked on the moon, and diseases that previously ravaged entire populations, such as tuberculosis and smallpox, were virtually eradicated overnight. Nowadays we can communicate through cyberspace, genetically engineer outsize fruit, and line up to be treated with the latest wonder-drug.

There is no denying that the advancements of science have made our lives infinitely easier, longer and more comfortable. We wonder how past generations can have possibly survived without mobile phones and watches that can withstand the pressure of thousands of fathoms of water.

Somewhere down the line science replaced religion and philosophy as the perceived source of infinite knowledge. Even the mysteries of creation, previously the domain of the divine, could be explained away in scientific terms. In recent years, however, society has begun to doubt the omnipotence of science, realizing that it cannot provide answers for some of the most fundamental questions of existence. From this realization a new spirituality has emerged, which is heralding a gradual shift in attitude. The materialism and high-powered competitiveness of the 1980s has given way to a slightly more relaxed, positive and intuitive mood.

In no other arena has this generational shift been more apparent than in attitudes towards health. More and more people, doctors and patients alike, are adopting a more holistic approach to health, acknowledging the importance of lifestyle, proper diet and regular exercise in the upkeep of a healthy body. Even more importantly, people are beginning to recognize and understand the significance of the state of their mental, spiritual and emotional wellbeing on their physical health.

In reality, we have always known how strongly our emotions affect our physical being-think how many times dealing with someone difficult and demanding has brought on a headache. Even without realizing it, we connect the idea of wellness with the idea of emotion when we say that we do not 'feel well', when we do not know specifically what is wrong with us. We also acknowledge our spiritual nature when we claim to be in 'high' or 'low' spirits.

It is in this atmosphere of renewed enthusiasm for the holistic ideal, however, that such concepts have been widely accepted into our collective consciousness. This in itself has paved the way for numerous alternative therapies, some of which have been practised for centuries either in other cultures or our own, to be adopted further into mainstream society. A whole world of esoteric therapies has become more socially acceptable as well as more readily available.

Faith healing is just one of these therapies.

Some people feel uneasy about the term 'faith healing'. To many it positively smacks of jiggery-pokery, probably because of recent publicity about fraudulent American television evangelists, as well as a deeper-rooted fear and suspicion of anything that sounds vaguely occultist.

In fact, faith healing is one of the most conservative and respectable of all the battery of so-called alternative therapies, being wholeheartedly welcomed into institutions such as churches and hospitals, as it is.

We should perhaps attempt at the outset to fashion some working definition of faith healing. This may be an elusive task because the term is such a wide one, offering itself to various differing schools. It should be pointed out that faith healing has become an umbrella term for the diverse strands of healing that fall within its range. In its purest meaning, faith healing is the belief in 'right' thinking, practised within a religious system. Christian faith healers believe that all healing comes from God.

The term is really unsatisfactory because it implies that faith is the obligatory prerequisite to being helped by the healing forces. This excludes many non-believers, who have been some of the most startling subjects and benefactors of healing. Another problem for some people with the term 'faith healing' is that it places the source of healing in a person's faith, not in Christ or a divinity. Apart from belittling the role of God in healing, this definition is also potentially harmful for those who do not experience any alleviation of symptoms following healing, leading them to believe that it is their fault for not having enough faith, which can result in a spiritual crisis.

A more flexible definition of faith healing is that of a therapy based on something other than current scientific knowledge. The term 'spiritual healing' is employed by those who are reluctant to be emphatic as to the origins of healing, be it from God or some other universal source. In this book the terms 'faith' and 'spiritual' healing are somewhat interchangeable.

The word 'healing' comes from the Anglo-Saxon word 'healan', which connotes both the body and the spiritual element of the human being as the thing to be healed.

At this point, it would be politic to draw attention to the difference between healing and curing because they are not the same thing. Although it is true that miraculous cures do take place following faith healing, this is not the premise of the therapy. Healing could involve the temporary or permanent alleviation of symptoms, or it could mean reaching a state of wellbeing. On the other hand, the healing could just be arriving at a point of acceptance.

Redefining healing also means changing attitudes towards disease. It has been suggested that perhaps all diseases are psychologically rooted or stress-related. Some healers believe that all symptoms of disease are the result of some deeper spiritual disorder, and that the patient must subsequently look at his or her life and assess what it is that is making him or her unwell.

For example, stress, over-work and unexpressed anger are widely recognized as contributing factors in the emergence of many medical conditions, ranging from migraines to cancer. This kind of direct cause and effect approach can be harmful, however, as it may suggest to the patient that he or she is somehow responsible for the illness. This could induce feelings of guilt and shame, both extremely negative emotions, which would become another barrier to wellbeing. By all means analyse your lifestyle in order to understand the possible origins of an ailment, just do not hold yourself to account.

It should also be emphasized that faith healing is a complementary therapy intended to be employed in conjunction with orthodox medicine, not to replace it.

The proof of the effectiveness of this type of healing is anecdotal rather than scientific, which invites scepticism. In any analysis of faith healing we must accept that there are things in life that defy scientific explanation. As Shakespeare says through Hamlet, 'There are more things in heaven and earth, [Horatio], than are dreamt of in your philosophy'. Surely it is not beyond us to admit that our own knowledge may be flawed and imperfect.

It would be a tragedy indeed if we allowed our fear and mistrust of the unknown to deter us from embracing all that faith healing has to offer. With this in mind let us explore spiritual healing and its many possibilities.