In today’s installment of the Jack’s Winning Words blog, Jack used this quote – “He (she) is the best physician who is the most ingenious inspirer of hope.” (Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
Modern Medicine is at best an art, which tries to cloak itself in science to add credibility. Certainly, there is some science involved, but mostly it’s a practice of techniques that 
were developed through a process of trial and error, whether it be in diagnosing aliments or performing surgery. Even the development of our modern wonder drugs is mostly a matter of trial and error; although the newest gene therapies are based more in a scientific understanding of how our genes work and what they do in the body. Of course the current opioid epidemic shows how out-of-hand modern medicine can get with it’s prescription drug approach.
And then there are all of the alternative or holistic medical practices, many of which focus primarily on allowing the body to heal itself. Some are accompanied by lengthy discussions of “energy flows” within the body or other scientifically questionable explanations of why they supposedly work. Most of them have been developed over centuries of trail and error, too. In the old days Snake Oil salesmen also had explanations about why their elixirs would cure all ills. Many of the alternative approaches might sound like that; however, some work as well, if not better, than modern medicine at relieving pain and allowing a person to heal.
It would seem that Jack’s quote is the most reasonable explanation of why many of these approaches to healing actually work. The most successful practitioners inspire the hope of the patient and out of that hope comes the time and attitude to promote healing. The fact that many also relieve pain reinforces that hope.
I’m certainly not advocating for the position of refusing modern medical help and putting all of our hope in either alternative approaches or even in faith. Misguided people who try to use faith as a reason and defense for not vaccinating their children or giving them the benefit of modern treatments and drugs, where needed, are just wrong and a danger to themselves and society. It is unfortunate that too many get away with that approach until it is too late.
I do think it is important to add faith to the strength of the hope that one has in whatever medical approach is being employed. There have been a few studies that were at least as scientific as many drug tests that showed the positive impact of faith in the healing process. Combining hope that one will get better; with faith that God will help make it happen is strong medicine indeed.
So, keep the faith and keep hope in your medicine cabinet. Have a healthy rest of the week, no matter what approach you take to healing your body.
Posted by Norm Werner 
It hit me, when I saw those two quotes in juxtaposition in my mail in-box that they really go together as a way to look at the end time of life. After all, death seems to be the final wall that we all face.
formidable Sonny Liston. Nobody gave the young, brash Clay a chance against the bigger Liston, who had destroyed the former champion Floyd Patterson. When Clay made good on his boast that he would “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” and knocked out Liston, he proclaimed to the world, in the post-fight interview with Howard Cosell that he was ”the greatest of all time”.
So, if you are looking for amusement, go see the latest super heroes movie or dress up and go to a convention and enjoy yourself; but, if you are looking for the only true super hero of all time to save you, look to Jesus. With Him on your side; there are no foes that can defeat you, not even death. Now that’s a super hero worth following.
WE lost the ability to find compromises; the desire through give and take to find enough common ground to allow for peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence. Instead, we have retreated further and further away from compromise and into heavily armed and fortified positions; our fortifications made up of hate, bigotry and 
distrust and our weapons those of hateful speech and actions.
to love one another.
love them and accept them as Jesus loved us. We need to include them in our US.
This election season, let us all try to avoid the WE vs. THEM candidates and find the champions of US that are out there. Get out and vote for US.
the end of winter and the arrival of Spring. In a larger sense, it is a metaphor for the celebration of life. As Hartley pointed out, children seem to find fun in life no matter what is going on around them. One can see that in the occasional news stories of children finding a way to play in the midst of war-torn countries. For them life is always fun, bright, colorful and full of things to discover.
We begin to believe that we can control things, manipulate things and decide outcomes to events and not to trust that God is in control. Many may substitute something new in place of the Maypole – success in business with promotions and more money – and dance around those goals in the belief that having more of everything will bring happiness.
working out for you? Don’t play the fool; return to the only true thing that you need to center your life around. Dance around God and be happy again, as if you were a child.
believe. Fred never talked down to the children; but, instead, he took the time to explain things to them, like how to be a friend.
reach out to God, who never leaves us, and ask His help to carry on. There are things that we cannot and will not ever “understand”; so, we must ask instead for the faith and strength to just accept them and move on.
people.
me. Worse is to discovering that someone that I may have been avoiding because of some pre-conceived notion or prejudice is actually a very interesting person from whom I might learn or at least enjoy knowing. When we judge someone from afar, based solely on their outward appearance, we blind ourselves to the true value that they have and the hidden stories that they could share.
and to listen to their hidden stories. You’ll be the better for it and perhaps they will gain from knowing you, too.
extent that we don’t look away from it long enough to see the lives that need touching as they pass us by. How can one see the distress and fear in the eyes of someone in need, if our eyes are glued to the screens of our smartphones? How can one have the conversation that leads to understanding of those needs if one is busy texting someone else with the 
latest “news” of our day?
touching and improving the lives of others. How powerful is that? Nothing else that you will do with your life will have greater impact than changing the lives of others for the better.
that man has imposed upon those who seek to share their faith by joining a religious organization. That is especially true for younger people who have reached an age where they question the validity of everything; especially the rules of behavior and practice imposed their religion. If not before, college is certainly a place where that questioning take hold of young lives for a while. Eventually one is able to separate out the things that are man-made in religions from the foundations of faith and belief in God and become able to accept some of the practices of organized religions in order to share in the celebration of that common faith in God. It is in the quite peace of prayer that one reaffirms one’s beliefs and faith; and, it is in religious celebrations and church services that one shares the joy of that faith.
with questioning one’s faith. Centuries ago, Martin Luther challenged the Catholic Church and the practices of granting religious indulgences. That challenge eventually led to the split from the Catholic Church that led to the formation of all modern Protestant denominations. The fact that there are so many different denominations and variations within denominations just further shows the hand of man in religions. The base upon which all are built remains the belief in God and His Son, Jesus, and, as Dylan said, “You either got it or you ain’t.”
medicine seems to be focused more upon relief of symptoms than actual healing. Whatever you have, there’s a pill for that, or at least a pill to make you feel better while it runs its course. Nature still takes care of that over time.
what ails us. That certainly beats the opioid option that modern medicine has come up with as a solution. From time to time we see studies that indicate the power of prayer in “miraculous” recoveries from some disease or condition. Perhaps it is the power of that prayer to encourage us to persevere while nature works its cure. Just sayin’ that there’s nothing wrong with prayin’.
NormsMilfordBlog 