CNN’s feature on the documentary film Escape Fire: the Fight to Rescue American Healthcare was nominated for an Emmy. Escape Fire is a documentary worth seeing that highlights the critical need for a paradigm shift in healthcare. Dr. Donald M. Berwick, an internationally recognized expert on healthcare reform, established the term “Escape Fire” in a […]
Treating Pain: A New Ontology is Needed
In the 19th century, phrenology was viewed as a respected science that based its findings on measurements of the skull to determine a person’s character and mental capacity. Few follow phrenology today. Contemporary neuroscience utilizes brain scans to detect correlations between the body and the brain. Yet, both sciences lack explanatory power when it comes […]
Can Viewing Yourself Differently Actually Stop Chronic Pain?
If you’re one of the millions who suffer from chronic pain, you may have noticed the attention currently focused on a powerful new narcotic called Zohydro. With so much focus on ending our nation’s pain killer epidemic, the timing of the FDA’s recent approval of this new drug has many perplexed. It was just six […]
Overdiagnosing America
Ever wonder why America is one of only two nations in the entire world that allows drug advertising on television? The following is a partial script of a largely unknown YouTube video on today’s pervasive drug commercials: “Do you get cold when it’s chilly? Hungry when you don’t eat? I know I sure do! Until […]
Commemorating National Day of Prayer 2011
Today is National Day of Prayer here in the United States. A day established by Congress under the Truman administration in 1952. In his proclamation for the occasion, President Obama writes: “Prayer has played an important role in the American story and in shaping our Nation’s leaders. President Abraham Lincoln once said, ‘I have been […]
Response to writer Stephen Prothero
On April 2nd, I posted “Letter to writer Stephen Prothero” regarding a March 25 article he wrote for The Wall Street Journal. Below is his recent response, followed by my reply: Prothero: “I am never opposed to correcting myself when I am wrong, but I wrote nothing incorrect here. To begin, I did not write, […]
Can the death of Confederate General ‘Stonewall’ Jackson shed light on the mental nature of health?
Do the expectations and thoughts of the people around a patient influence the patient’s recovery from illness or injury? Marking today’s 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War, it seems a good time to consider the tragic death of Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson in 1863. Reading the account of General Jackson’s death, […]
Letter to writer Stephen Prothero
Dear Stephen, I enjoy your writings but I was surprised to read in your March 25 article in the Wall Street Journal, “Thomas Jefferson’s cut-and-paste Bible,” the following passage: “Americans have long been a people of the book. John Winthrop quoted from the Bible in his ‘city on the hill’ sermon in 1630, and American political leaders have […]
Talking about Christian Science with Pastor Betsey Moe and members of the Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church
Note: Most of my talk at Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church was taped and is now available on their church website. The first few minutes provide a sense of the joy and friendly atmosphere. Last Sunday, I had the pleasure of attending the 9 a.m. worship service at Hamblen Park Presbyterian Church in Spokane, WA. I […]
Response to another reader’s questions about Christian Science
When I began blogging last September, I asked a few people what they knew of Christian Science and if they’d like to subscribe to a blog designed to explain it. The following unscripted video is of one of these individuals: Thanks Brooke! Below are my brief answers to your questions: Why are we here? Of course, […]