Argumentative Essay On Miracles

In the “Surgeon as Priest,” Richard Selzer dives into the religious and scientific aspects of being a surgeon. He explores and divides the certain aspects of “healing” into five parts, each section demonstrating the different perspectives on healing (spiritually & scientifically) that eventually builds the metaphorical bridge between surgeon and priest. With the use of figurative language and other rhetorical devises, he connects each section of his essay to show his transformation from a scientific healer to a spiritual healer.

Alvord observed the power of belief could have positive or negative influence in her Navajo patients. One of her patient, Carolyn, had a breast cancer that she believed that was caused of her bad deed. Carolyn was hesitant to have a surgery to remove her cancerous tumor. However, having a medicine man performed a Night Chant ceremony made her feel calmer, as if her body’s harmony was restored, and prepared her mentally for her lumpectomy. Many of her patients dealt with cancer in different ways but a sing performed by a hataalii gave a dimension to their cure that helped those patients cope better with their conditions. Dr. Alvord discovered that patients undergoing chemotherapy reacted well to the presence of a traditional healer at bedside. Thus, help with the healing process (Alvord, 1999, pp. 94-102). She also explained that the feelings of both the patient and the surgeon could affect recovery time, postsurgical complications, and even whether the patient lived or died. Evelyn, was one of Dr. Alvard patient to suffered a stroke complication that might be cause by lack of harmony during her surgery. Dr. Alvord thought that the combination of her anger, the nurse’s inattentive and defensive posture, and Evelyn’s fear had influence the complication to happen. Later, she attempted to create harmonious relationships within my personal life and within the staff at the hospital (Alvord, 1999, pp.

As you all know, I have spent all of my professional career at ALSAC/St. Jude. Throughout this time, I have witnessed some amazing things that until this past month I think I have taken for granted. And I am not just referring to the miracles our doctors perform every day for our patients.

According to the Hmong culture a shaman helps to cure the soul. A doctor cures biological problems. As we learn throughout this class there is a difference between an illness and a disease. An illness or a disease may have the absence of the other. In most cases an illness can be present without a disease. In the case of Lia there was a presence of both Illness and disease. If txiv neb and the American doctor would have balanced their practices and learned from each other this would have affected the way the Lees thought about medicine. I believe that faith plays an important role in Lia’s case if the doctors would have understood the way that txiv neeb thought and vice versa the lees would have trusted American doctors and medicine more. Learning from txiv neeb would have also helped the American doctors in other cases when treating Hmong by understanding their culture. It is important for the doctors to understand the Hmong culture and specifically the way that a txiv neeb works because in Merced a third of the population were Hmong and used a tixv neeb as their main source of healing.

Dr. Kay Mohamed, a doctor at Themba Lethu clinic, exemplified the reality of treatment in today’s world when he stated, “Now, you can’t not get better. It’s just one of these win-win situations. You test, you treat, and you get better, end of story” (Lubock 9).

Makayla Sault, a now 11-year old Ontario First Nation girl, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia last March. She then began chemotherapy treatment and was given a 75 percent chance of survival with the treatment. She underwent 12 weeks of chemotherapy. During this time, she experienced severe side effects and at one point ended up in intensive care. At this time, Makayla said she had a vision of Jesus, and then wrote a letter to her doctors asking to stop her treatment. With the support of her family and the resistance of the doctors, the children’s aid society that handled the case ultimately granted Makayla’s wish. She then pursued traditional indigenous medicine and other alternative treatments. She died last month after suffering a stroke.

According to the Hmong culture a shaman helps to cure the soul. A doctor cures physiological problems. As we learn throughout this class there is a difference between an illness and a disease. An illness or a disease may have the absence of the other. In most cases an illness can be present without a disease. In the case of Lia there was a presence of both illness and disease. If txiv neeb and the American doctor would have balanced their practices and learned from each other, this would have positively affected the way the Lees thought about modern medicine. I believe that faith plays an important role in Lia’s case, and if the doctors would have understood the way that txiv neeb thought and vice versa, the Lees would have trusted American doctors and medicine more. Learning from txiv neeb would have also helped the American doctors in Lia’s case and in other cases when treating Hmong patients by understanding their culture. It is important for the doctors to understand the Hmong culture and specifically the way that a txiv neeb works because in Merced a third of the population were Hmong and used a tixv neeb as their main source of healing. A txiv neeb takes the time to be with a patient while a doctor would only spend 15 minutes with them. A txiv neeb could have learn how to perform CPR in case it was ever

On May 9th, I was given the news by a doctor who I did not remember. Later, I found out that he was the one who saved my life.

Overall, the advancement towards establishing more facilities that are designated “healing hospitals” is a welcome change. Though many people may believe a spiritual and healing experience is just another way to force religion upon society it needs to be

The diagnostic testing that MCMC professional deemed necessary to assess Lia’s progress was continually challenged throughout her care. Foua Yang and Nao Kao believed most of the procedures were unnecessary and did not understand the importance of the testing. A challenge for healthcare professionals when dealing with disapproved medical procedures and methods in Lia’s situation is the repetitive testing needed to review Lia’s progress. The blood sampling that occurred at every medical visit was viewed as unnecessary and threatening to Foua Yang and Nao Kao because, “Most Hmong believe that the body contains a finite amount of blood that it is unable to replenish, so repeated blood sampling, especially from small children, may be fatal” (Fadima, 33). Medical professionals overlooked a very important aspect of the Hmong culture, which is the soul, and the wisdom of shaman Txiv. Prayer is often used in the United States as a healer and according to the Hmong culture,  “Txiv neebs knew that to treat the body without treating the soul was an act of patent folly” (Fadima,

Another example of this healing involves a man named John Pattison, aged twenty-one. In 1974, he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and was not expected to live more than six months. He

Last, the author’s religion is Roman Catholic which accounts for nearly 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. Catholics strongly believe in the mediation of the saints and are also taught that God can heal. Catholics believe in the power of blessings and with this the use of sacraments like the Anointing of the Sick (i.e., blessed salt, water and oil) are used for healing. Certain people are physically healed. Catholics believe that God heals, and people pray all the time to be healed, nevertheless the Catholic Church does educate that medical care is an appropriate action to do when they are ill, and people are not banned from their religion if they seek medical attention.

James was in acute kidney failure, which further lead to an increase in blood pressure and an increase in fluid that needed to be relieved by immediate dialysis (Grand Canyon University, n.d.). The physician informed Mike and Joanne of James’ best medical option. However, Mike and Joanne believed that James would be healed by God, by prayer. The parents had faith in this decision because they previously witnessed a friend magically regain mobility after a prayer healing service at the church the week before (Grand Canyon University, n.d.). Therefore, instead of immediately going through with dialysis they went to a healing service. Two days later, James’s condition deteriorates, and the family is now forced to go with dialysis and James now needs a kidney transplant. Mike and Joanne made their decisions based on the idea of the Christian narrative and Christian faith. In the Christian narrative the Fall is the reason there is death, disease, and suffering (Grand Canyon University, 2015). However, that doesn’t mean that one can’t be healed by having faith in the

Patient strongly believes that faith plays an important part in his health, but he knows that he could also do much more for himself in order to improve his health. Mr. Ferrell quotes, “I can’t expect God to help me if I don’t help myself” (Ferrel, 2013). Praying and honoring God does fullfil his spiritual needs but it does not magically improve his health. He mentioned that his weakness is food and as a result he struggles with his diabetic and renal diets; eating healthier could improve the patient’s health. Mr. Ferrell believes and knows that he needs to treat his body better as God has been so merciful with him and considers his eating habits a sin. As a retired man, he finds time to do many Church activities that benefit both the community and himself. He likes doing community services as it helps release some stress caused by his illness. Being involved in Church has taken him to Jerusalem, which to him was the most wonderful experience. Traveling has played an important role for him but cannot do so often due to his dependency of a machine to clean his blood. What went well

An idea of “divine wisdom”that is theoretically within humans, seen as a “hidden mind”. This will be later discovered and thought of as the subconscious mind. Biblical principles were introduced as part of Quimby’s healing explanations. The “hidden mind” was thought to be available and accessible to the spiritual healer. According to some one Quimby’s manuscripts, he was the first to use “Christian healing” as a term of therapy. He truly had thought that he had discovered the technique that Jesus had used on people in the Bible, which is why he never took credit for this therapeutic technique. He just practiced in the image of Jesus to help those around him who were suffering. He called his method “Science of Christ” or “Christ Science”. It was through divine wisdom that healing was achieved, and evidence could be found in the New Testament, since his treatment was similar to Jesus’. Once this theory was developed, he abandoned the mental healing theory. His legacy left for the world is his mind/spiritual healing. He did also believe that in order for this treatment to be effective, the patient had to participate during this process. The patient had to believe in the process and that it would work in order for it to be effective. Beliefs were very important, and that God is wisdom is what can heal a