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by
Phyllis Ring
The former chief of staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital and co-chair
of the National Institutes of Health’s panel on mind/body interventions,
Dr. Larry Dossey is the world’s foremost champion of prayer’s
healing effect. For Dossey, his struggles with his own migraine headaches
played a role in his evolution toward a more holistic view of healing.
Dossey first explored the effects of visualization, relaxation,
and meditation on healing. With his growing awareness of spirituality’s
role in healing, Dossey grew increasingly curious about the seemingly
unexplainable evidence of miracle cures. For physicians especially, miracles
remind us that our rational, materialistic science is incomplete, and
that there will probably always be phenomena we cannot explain. “They
can happen to sinners as well as saints,” explains Dossey. One doesn’t
have to wear a halo to have a miracle cure.”
One of the most powerful healing events he has witnessed involved
a patient with lung cancer who refused treatment. When he returned a year
later after his church congregation had prayed for him, he was completely
cancer free.
Another miraculous cure happened to Rita Klaus, who developed
multiple sclerosis in her early 20s. As the disease progressed, she submitted
to her husband’s appeal to take part in a church healing service
that she described as leaving her with “a feeling of absolute love
like I’d never felt, coursing through me.”
Later, despite the fact that tendons in her legs had been
surgically cut to enable her to hobble short distances with the aid of
braces, she heard a voice one night inviting her to be healed. As she
sat in her wheelchair the next day, she began to feel a variety of sensations
and was astonished to discover that her twisted, deformed legs had regained
a normal appearance. She first tested her recovery by running up a flight
of steps and then went on a joyous celebratory romp through the nearby
woods. Upon examination, her doctor found no trace of her disease.
Although spontaneous remissions of multiple sclerosis are
possible, the miracle was that the permanent damage to her body had also
disappeared. “From what we know about how bodies function, no one
should ever be able to regain full function and normal reflexes after
their knee tendons have been surgically severed,” Dossey notes.
Double Blind Studies
Although witnessing miraculous cures has affected his views, it was the
results of scientific studies that showed the beneficial effects of prayer,
that made him a believer. “If prayer can affect serious diseases
such as advanced AIDS, no disease is beyond responding to prayer.”
he says.
Although this type of research is in its infancy, several
double-blind, controlled experiments, such as those conducted by Dr. Elizabeth
Targ (AIDS) in 1998; Dr. William Harris (heart attack) in 1999; Dr. Mitchell
Krucoff (heart disease) in 2001 and 2005; and Dr. Kwang Cha (infertility)
in 2001, demonstrate the healing powers of prayer.
For instance, in the double-blind study by Dr. Targ at California
Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, AIDS patients who received prayer
survived in greater numbers, got sick less often, and recovered faster
than those who did not.
One of the best-known studies was conducted by Randolph Byrd
in the cardiac care unit of San Francisco General Hospital in 1988. All
400 subjects were given routine standard care but half of the group was
also prayed for by various groups. The patients who had been prayed for
showed no cardiac arrests, no need for an artificial ventilator, and no
deaths during their hospitalization. However, 12 members of the group
who were not prayed for suffered from many complications and three patients
even died. None of the medical staff knew who was being prayed for. As
regards spiritual faith, these studies suggest that the prayers from people
from any religion are effective.
Intention is the Key
Although such studies show that prayer is associated with healing, it
is not yet known how it works. Some scholars suggest that consciousness
extends beyond the body and is independent of space and time. “The
key question is whether or not healing is a direct result of the healers’
intentions, or whether a transcendent entity such as God is involved,”
Dossey says.
Intentions are also the tools of those who pray on others’
behalf. “People often feel the prayers, concerns, intentions, and
love of others, even at a distance,” Dossey says. “They can
even share physical symptoms at a distance.”
What is curious is that healing is not dependent on one’s
faith. “Confidence in the process helps promote a positive outcome
but is not crucial to the effects of prayer,” Dossey explains.
Dossey has also explored the effectiveness of both directed
and non-directed prayer. Directed prayer asks for a specific outcome while
nondirected prayer is prayer for overall health and general well-being.
Both methods seem to work equally as well.
But the process of prayer in healing is also something far
greater than a mere asking for what we want, says Dossey. We need to remember
that prayer is not about winning the lottery or finding one’s soulmate,
but about connecting with the Absolute. “We only need to avoid putting
our personal expectations on the universe through prayer. If we can do
so,” asserts Dossey, “prayer won’t disappoint.” z
For more info. on Dr. Dossey and his work, visit www.dosseydossey.com
from
issue #16
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