Week 6 Class 490

The question is can we cure disease through the power of prayer?

In America, we change our eating habits; for instance, we count our calories and carbohydrates, we've banned smoking and charge fines for open containers and drunk driving trying to save lives. Unfortunately, drunk drivers without a license and a list of offenses a mile long are still getting away with little or no punishment. Now the government wants to fine Americans for eating what they want. Obviously, the fining is not working for drinking; do we really think it will work where food is concernedf? For years, Americans have been working at changing their eating habits; so much that its become a multibillion dollar business.So far, this is not working for those addicted to food anymore taxes on cigarettes and alcohol is working for those addicted to alcohol and tabacco.

According to Controversies in Healthcare, "We're becoming less responsible for our own health, and more responsible for everyone else's. Your heart attack drives up the cost of my premiums and office visits. And if the government is paying for my anti-cholesterol medication, what incentive is there fore me to put down the cheeseburger?" (166).

In Italy, the people do as they please and their statistics are surpassing those of the US; however, they do spend the majority of their time walking where they want to go. They smoke when they want and they drink wine with their meals, eat plenty of carbohydrates late at night before going to bed. They take cigarette breaks or walk outside to chit chat with someone on the street without the fear of being fired.

Italians also have a strong belief system.

In The Italians, Luigi Barizini says that "At some point, real power destroys make-believe power and everything ends in catastophe." (83) Maybe we see the real power of a less stressful life in Italy. Incorporating this life style in the US could jeapordize its corporate world. Maybe what US citizens really need is a less stressful life.

Religion does have its positive effects or healing or recovery. According to “Spirituality, Religion, and Health,” religion establishes community and community provides a support system for coping with illness. Skokan and Bader (2000) report that spirituality can bring an ill person three benefits: hope, strength, and emotional support” (93). In my mind, you don’t need to be ill to experience these three benefits. One can experience these three benefits while dealing with the illness of another person or any other stressful life situation.

Every time we stop in a church Danilo takes the time to meditate. He probably does this with every group, but right now he needs an inner strength and the emotional support to move past a devastating point in his life. Personally, prayer brought me through two instances in life that could leave a person totally deflated. I’ll talk about the second instance; our grandson, Michael (aka Bubs), came down with a true esophagitis. It took weeks for it to develop; about half way to the doctor’s office and past the last hospital, I am pretty sure that he stopped breathing for a second or two. I just prayed to make it to the doctor’s office and kept talking to him the whole way. The doctor transferred him to Aultman. He went an entire night without being brought to the attention of the pediatrician in charge. The next morning, Dr. Langsdorf spent the entire morning with Bubs. He insisted on taking a backboard to x-ray; he held him up to x-ray machine to get a good picture (looking for a foreign body). He didn’t see one; so, he cleared a surgery suite and took him in to find the foreign body (fb) – nothing found. Thank God. While they looked for the fb, I prayed that it was not from our house. As a result, Dr. Langsdorf transferred Bubs to Children’s Hospital in Akron. He spent the next three days paralyzed. We could talk to him but not stimulate him in an attempt to wake him up. I spent my nights rocking him (while mom rested up for the next day). While rocking him I prayed to Mary (something that I’ve done since junior high school), sang “He Walks with Me and He Talks with me” in Bubs ear, and prayed that God’s will be done. Luckily, His will turned out to be the result that I was looking for.

While working at a local hospital, a lady of Jehovah Witness faith came in for treatment. She needed a blood transfusion and refused the transfusion. As a result, the staff felt total frustration and each used their form of support system to deal with the situation. It works the same when they lose a patient. They rely on their belief system and each other during these times of stress. The Connection Between Spirituality, Religion and Health goes on to say that religion and its accompanying beliefs and behaviors can affect every aspect of life, including social organizations, political beliefs, economic status, and family life…human development. As a result of my encounters with life, I’ve become more involved with my Church and want to participate.