National Day of Prayer 2013 – Hope in God

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Debra Chew

As far back as I can remember, I learned to pray and find my hope in God.  In my youth, I solved my academic and social problems by prayer.  Then, in my young adulthood, I solved my career and relationship problems by prayer.  You see, I found out early in life that the solution to all my challenges could be handled by praying to God and expecting good to come from my prayers.  Now, later in life, I am confident that still God hears me.  I go to Him not only for some of those same issues that I prayed about in my youth, but also for needs concerning my life and health.

Today, our nation faces many struggles – some of them economic and some of them health-related.  Other struggles are of a fearful nature….like crime and terrorism on our own land.  On this National Day of Prayer, many, of all different faiths, will join together and pray for the needs of this nation and for our fellow citizens.  We will pray for those who lead and protect this country and other countries so that they make wise decisions.  We will pray for some who are ill, hurting, searching….or just because we love them.  The common thread today is that we will pray.

This year’s theme is “Pray for America” and it comes from Mathew 12:21.  The general message from several Bible translations is that “in His name the nations will put their hope.”  So many issues facing our nation today seem truly hopeless.  Psalms 25:5 reads “for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”  As we unite today in prayer and hope, let’s see our challenges not as hopeless, but as opportunities to give them to God and expect them to be healed.

Many years of hope and reliance on God to meet my own personal needs has never let me down.  I have seen health restored, lives regenerated, families reunited, broken hearts mended, friendships renewed, and careers saved by turning humbly to God for guidance and thereby acknowledging that He is in control of every circumstance.  Prayer is powerful and I am grateful that we can turn to God in prayer to supply all our human needs, not only on this National Day of Prayer, but every day.  God bless America.

Debra Chew writes about the connection between thought, spirituality and health.  She is the media and legislative liaison for Christian Science in Tennessee.

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OVER-DIAGNOSIS: WHEN OVER-ACHIEVING ISN’T ALWAYS GOOD

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Debra Chew

Emma Chew achieving her goal

OVER-DIAGNOSIS: WHEN OVER-ACHIEVING ISN’T ALWAYS GOOD

Debra A. Chew

            When I was in the first grade my parents learned that my teacher considered me to be an over-achiever.  They found that when I was given my classwork, I was given twice the amount of work the other students received.  That was because I hurried through my work and finished it long before the other students and then I started talking to them.  Yes, I have always talked too much!

Looking back, I think I was seeking recognition as the fastest and smartest, or maybe trying to achieve some award by doing more than was necessary.  Today, I recognize that there are good and not-so-good outcomes as a result of being an “over” anything.  Take MDs, for example.  In their quest to help people, they can, even with the best of intentions, fail to get the desired results from their labors.  Recent studies indicate that the medical field could be regarded as over-achievers, too, when it comes to the over-diagnosis of cancer and other diseases.  Diagnosing those who are sick is a big part of a doctor’s job.  One challenge is that a diagnosis may identify something that will never become a serious health problem.  The Dartmouth Institute is studying this issue.  They have announced an international conference later this year on Preventing Overdiagnosis, where they will discuss their research about how overdiagnosis harms people with problems that never needed to be found.

It’s certainly a “catch 22”:  Overdiagnosis has the potential of making people sick in the pursuit of making them healthy.   But that brings us to the question – what makes someone healthy?  Is it because they have a scan or screening that says they are disease-free?  Then, what makes someone diseased?  Is it because they have a scan or screening that says they have cancer?

In April of 2012, The New York Times carried an article entitled Endless Screenings Don’t Bring Everlasting Health.  In this article, the physician authors wrote, “But, overdiagnosis – the detection of cancers never destined to cause problems – is arguably the most important harm of screening…..When screening finds these cancers, it turns people into patients unnecessarily.”  They went on to say, “People on the receiving end of overdiagnosis can only be harmed – sometimes seriously – by unnecessary surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy.”  Even the United States Preventive Services Task Force judged that harms outweighed benefits in P.S.A. screening for prostate cancer, and recommended against its routine use.  They found the tests result in a “disturbing” amount of overdiagnosis.

So, what is someone to do?  Since February is “Wise Health Consumer” month, let’s elaborate on how to make good and wise decisions about screenings, procedures, doctors, etc. Over-screening leads to overdiagnosis, which then often leads to over-medicating, etc.  Too many “overs” for sure. As a result of these reports and findings, physicians, hospitals, the public and agencies that regulate medical care are re-thinking how to avoid this conundrum. If the goal to achieve the “best health outcome” – which it is for all of us – access to such information certainly helps a patient make better health choices.

People today are choosing a wide variety of approaches to maintaining good, health. More and more, people are discovering that their thought affects their health.  And, studies show medical institutions are now trying to catch up with the public demand for a “whole” – mental, spiritual and physical – approach to health. It’s an approach that definitely flies in the face of a model that uses whatever technology is available to look for the minutest evidence of disease.

And it’s a shift that, to me, speaks to re-discovering some ideas about health that come from the greatest healer the world has ever known, Jesus.  His counsel was to:

  • clean up our thinking
  • focus on God (here and now)
  • love our neighbor
  • turn away from the body (food, clothing, etc.)

He just didn’t spend a lot of time diagnosing illness. And, even without a diagnosis or any technology, he healed.

In fact, I think we could say, when it came to healing, he was by all fair measures the right kind of over-achiever.

Debra Chew is the media and legislative representative for Christian Science for Tennessee.  She can be contacted at Tennessee@compub.org

 

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Sprituality and Beating Breast Cancer

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Debra Chew

by Debra Chew 

Today, I passed the local hospital and saw a large pink ribbon on the sign in front.  And, pink water rushed forth from the beautiful water fountain at the entrance.  Well, of course, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  The country’s awareness of this important issue for women’s health is particularly important to me as well, for I am the daughter of a breast cancer survivor.    

I can still remember that day.  I had gone to Ohio to be with my mother, Miriam Parker, as she had a suspicious lump removed from her breast.  Her surgeon was not concerned, thinking the outcome would be the same as several other lumps he had removed from her breasts through the years.  For that reason, when the call came, it was quite shocking to both of us.  Cancer?  Not my mom!  She was too young.  She was fit, healthy, and full of life in her sixties.  She couldn’t possibly be facing cancer.  What did that mean for her future?

My first response to all those questions was to turn to God.  My experiences of healing mind, body and soul, from my youth to this time, led me to choose to turn to God in time of trouble.  To quote the Psalmist, “God is our refuge and strength; an ever-present help in trouble.”  (Psalms 46:1)  That meant I didn’t have to wait for an appointment or a further diagnosis or to do research online to give me a peaceful thought about my mother’s illness. I prayed and I felt more calm and able to comfort my mom who was understandably fearful.   

The MD Anderson Cancer Center recently announced a 10-year “moon shot” – a $3 billion initiative to find a cure for cancer.  This is being introduced when much time and money is already invested into technology and research.  Interestingly, other less funded studies are showing a rise in success with additional approaches – including incorporating prayer and spirituality – to treating and healing cancer.   

Research over the last decade on how prayer and spirituality affects breast (and other) cancer patients reveals promising results.  Similar to the participants in these studies, my mother found that her spirituality was an important factor during her treatment and recovery.  She would always say, “I know God is with me wherever I am and whatever I am going through.”  A March 19, 2012 article from breastcancer.org entitled Spirituality and Prayer indicates that research on prayer in women with breast cancer and people with other types of cancer shows that spiritual coping may be one of the most powerful ways people draw on their own resources to deal with cancer.   It goes on to say other benefits of prayer included:  reducing stress and anxiety and promoting a more positive outlook and a stronger will to live.  

To quote from the article: The U.S. Office of Technology Assessment looked at studies reported in the Journal of Family Practice over a 10-year time period. The review found that 83% of the studies done on spirituality found a positive effect on physical health. Another study looked at 12 years of reports in 2 major psychiatric journals. Of the studies that measured spirituality, 92% showed mental health benefits.  In research done specifically on women with breast cancer, spirituality and prayer has been associated with less depression and a more positive sense of well-being.  

Because of her faith in God, Mom was never tempted to feel depressed about the cancer.  She often spoke of the hopelessness in the eyes of some of the other patients she saw on treatment day.  But, she always felt hopeful.  Even when I could tell she was having a tough time, she never complained.  She said regularly, “I have faith in God and I know I will beat this.”  And, she did!

The year following her surgery and throughout the time she had radiation treatments, I continued to pray for my mom, as did many of her friends and family.    Her faith in God and her spiritual thought definitely helped her cope with this serious illness, had a positive effect on her recovery, and has played a major role in her remaining cancer-free.

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Healthy Aging – What It Takes (Guest Blog by Steve Salt)

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Debra Chew

Healthy Aging was a topic of awareness for the month of September.  Since this is the last day of the month, I thought I would share a blog by my Ohio colleague, Steve Salt.  Enjoy!

Healthy aging…what it takes

Photo: iStock_000010322007

Birthdays…we’re having more of them than ever in the history of mankind. The number of candles on our birthday cakes is swelling.  And there is a growing concern that as we age, we might not be healthy enough to blow them all out.  That is a depressing thought.

A demographic tsunami is coming.  7000 Baby Boomers will hit 65 just today.  Worldwide, the population of those people over 60 has more than doubled since 1980. By 2050, expect over 2 billion.  The implications to health and health care are staggering.

These are all good reasons to think about aging issues in September – Healthy Aging Month.  Organizers of the observance call it “a time to reinvent yourself”.  But that isn’t as easy as it sounds.  Many look back to their salad days as the ideal model when they were at their peak of ability and stamina.  Who doesn’t want to try to recapture youth with its promise of vitality and mental acuity?

Much time and money are spent on the possibility of halting the aging process. Pharmaceutical and beauty companies try to replicate youthfulness in compounds, drugs, and ointments, yet it seems to avoid capture.  The attention, of course, is on the body.  Are we missing something when we focus solely on physicality?

Let’s be honest.  You can’t find youth in a bottle or procedure.  There is more to it than that. Age is not a condition or an unavoidable destination.  Youthfulness is a way of thinking.  It’s not so much how the world see’s you, but how you think about yourself and others.   And, living long isn’t the only goal; living well is vital.

“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love.  When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.”  Sophia Loren once said that and it makes sense.  The award-winning actress, whose career currently spans 6 decades, seems to have hit upon something.

How do you “tap” the source that conquers age and contributes to mental and physical wellbeing? It looks like religion/spirituality is a key component. Researchers at George Mason University and College of William and Mary have conducted a study that looks into the relationship between religion, spirituality and mental health outcomes.  The results are included in the September issue of Crossroads…,a newsletter of the Center for Spirituality, Theology & Health at Duke University.

The findings are intriguing. “Results indicated a significant positive relationship between daily spirituality, meaning in life, self-esteem, and positive affect (i.e., well-being).”   Spirituality is defined in the study as “my personal relationship with a power greater than myself”.

Connecting with God every day is something anyone can do no matter how many Earth-years under their belt. In fact, many have already linked a spiritual/religious life to health.  49% of Americans pray …about their health!

When it comes to healthy aging, perhaps it takes more healthy praying and thinking, less candle counting.  Over time I have worked hard not to tally the number of years spent on planet Earth. It’s just not an accurate assessment of how I feel.  And although friends and family like to remind me how “old” I am, I tend to celebrate living rather than aging.  I don’t have birthdays.  I have cake-and-present days.

How many candles on your birthday cake this year?  Maybe you should stop counting. “The measurement of life by solar years robs youth and gives ugliness to age,” writes Mary Baker Eddy in her primary work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. She had a good grasp of the link between spirituality, health and aging.  The religious leader, healer, and health researcher who founded The Church of Christ, Scientist lived to 90 during a period in our country’s past when a woman’s life expectancy was just 46.

Is healthy aging possible? Rather than the accumulation of wrinkles, think of life as the buildup of experience and know-how, even spiritual wisdom.  That’s aging with attitude. 

                   Steven Salt is a Christian Science practitioner who regularly writes about the impact of thought and spirituality on health

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Aging Problems Healed by Prayer

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Debra Chew

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Lives Lived Video

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Debra Chew

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Irritation – Emotional and Physical (Guest Post by John London)

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Debra Chew

Irritation—Emotional and Physical

I’ve been dealing with a situation that has been very irritating to me. I recently spent a whole day upset about it. My practitioner even told me that I needed to deal with the feelings or they would come out in a physical form. The next morning I awoke with a very scratchy and inflamed sore right behind my knee. I’ve had these before and they’ve lasted and lasted causing me no end of grief. I’d even begun to think of myself as the Bible character Job because of the sores that plagued his body.
 

As I contemplated the sensations in my leg I realized that it felt exactly like the emotions I’d had the day before but in a physical form instead of an emotional one. As soon as I realized that, the sensation began to recede and within an hour or so it was completely gone. That showed me in a dramatic fashion how my physical wellbeing is tied to my emotions. If I’m going to be emotionally indulgent, I should expect to have a bodily manifestation—something I definitely don’t want!

 

This entry was posted in Lessons in Spiritual Living. Bookmark the permalink.

 

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Let God Into Your Universe – Guest Post by Mark Lawson

Posted on June 21, 2012 by Debra Chew

 

LET GOD INTO YOUR UNIVERSE

By:  Mark M. Lawson

            I sometimes remove God from my universe. Of course, I can’t really do that, but if in my heart I don’t assert God’s presence and influence in every aspect of my life, then I effectively remove him. When this occurs, it is no surprise that I have less peace and more stress. I feel that my life is out of control. Rather than “out of sight, out of mind,” it is more like “out of mind, out of sight.” That is, it seems that God, or good, is nowhere to be found.

         In her primary work, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes: “In the Saxon and twenty other tongues good is the term for God. The Scriptures declare all that He made to be good, like Himself, — good in Principle and in idea. Therefore the spiritual universe is good, and reflects God as He is.” If God is All-in-all, then there can be nothing beyond illimitable divinity. In God’s all-presence, what else can be present? In the midst of God’s all-power, what else can be powerful? In the Mind that is God, what can be unknown?

            Through Isaiah, God tells us (Isa. 45:5), “I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me.” As arrogant mortals sometimes do, I segment my life into different “departments”: spiritual life, work life, and family life. I regularly “permit” God to govern my spiritual life, but sometimes I forget to let Him govern other departments. When this happens, I experience more challenges, stress, and unhappiness. This happened lately.

            I started thinking of my work life in a very limited way. While God was in charge of my spiritual life, I was “in charge” of my work life. The result was that I found myself stressed by work challenges. I kept walking into the barriers of finite thinking, manifest as worry, fear, doubt, and unhappiness. I had been thinking that I was in control of a portion of my universe, when the remedy was to declare and know that God was in control of His universe (and that there was no my universe). I immediately experienced more peace, and problems resolved themselves better than I could have imagined.

         Again, in Science and Health, Eddy writes: “How empty are our conceptions of Deity! We admit theoretically that God is good, omnipotent, omnipresent, infinite, and then we try to give information to this infinite Mind.” I had been trying to handle things on my own, telling God how I wanted things done. God is not limited, but my concept of Him had been limited. When I opened my thought to know things as He knows them, declaring His presence and all-power, I experienced His control and felt His peace. My problems were then resolved.

                                               

Mr. Lawson is First Reader of Christian Science Society, Bristol, Tennessee and he may be contacted at mlawson@elliottlawson.com.

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The Practitioner’s Song – Cup of Water (Guest Post by John London)

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Debra Chew

A few months after I became a Christian Scientist in 2007, I received a call from Lora Beth, my old Unity minister. Lora Beth said that Phyllis had died and asked if I would like to travel with her to help in Phyllis’ memorial service and play a few songs on my guitar. I was reluctant to attend a memorial service, strongly believing that there is no death, and I thanked her, but made an excuse to avoid the two hour trip to Phyllis’ family’s church.

But then I awoke in the early hours of the next morning with the question on my mind, Won’t you give a cup of water in Christ’s name? I instantly knew that I should go to the service and be a spiritual presence there. The next morning, I called Lora Beth back and accepted her invitation.

At the service, I led the congregation in singing a few songs and then Lora Beth asked me if I would like to say a few words about Phyllis. In my old church I was a chaplain, and regularly made calls to members of the congregation to pray with them. Phyllis was one of those on my call list and I had regularly prayed with her for a year or so. She had had cancer and during the time we were praying together, we regularly prayed against fear and the frequent pain she was experiencing from her chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and I often spoke to her of God’s love and her natural, spiritual perfection as His beloved child.

When I rose to speak at the service, I shared some of the ideas I had learned from reading and studying Christian Science—that God never gave her disease; that God only had good for her and that she was God’s perfect child, forever in His care. Her family was sitting down in the front row of the church. They were all “good Baptists” and as I shared that God never gave disease to Phyllis, but held her eternally in His Love and care, I could see in their faces the impact this beautiful Truth was having upon them; and as I have often seen since, the acknowledgement of God’s Love has a wonderful healing effect upon all people of whatever faith or religious practice.

At the reception after the service, several people came up to me and asked me to pray for them. Rather than vaguely say that I would, I asked each one, Would you like to pray right now? We held hands and bowed our heads together. I reassured each one of God’s love for them, and his promise of healing and salvation, and I spoke the Truths I’ve learned through Christian Science; and especially, I shared Mrs. Eddy’s inspired presentation of the 23rd Psalm.

That night as I gave thanks to God for my day, I was so grateful that I had been able to share a cup of water in Christ’s name; and the very next day, God gave me this wonderful song which I love to sing each time I give this testimony.

A dear Christian Science practitioner has dubbed this, “The Practitioner’s song”.

 

Here are the lyrics:

Can you find a word of kindness you can speak?
Can you find the inner strength to help the weak?
And forgiveness you can offer for their shame?
Can you give a cup of water in Christ’s name?

Can you offer them a smile as you pass by?
And encouragement to help someone to try?
Is there patience you can find within today?
Can you give a cup of water in Christ’s name?

Can you look and see the light of God that shines in every face?
Can you find the holy ground in any place?
Can you see the hand of God that’s fashioning the potter’s clay?
Can you give a cup of water in Christ’s name?

Can you find the wisdom not to speak in hurt?
Can you see beyond what circumstances were?
And when all have run is courage there to stay?
Can you give a cup of water in Christ’s name?

Can you keep your thought on God when troubles come?
Having faith for others when they’re finding none?
And see Love divine is guiding on their way?
Can you give a cup of water in Christ’s name?

Can you add some understanding to their faith?
In the midst of all confusion can you pray?
Can you see that God’s perfection’s there always?
Can you give a cup of water in Christ’s name?

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Health by Choice, NOT by Chance

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Debra Chew

 

'Choices' by kozumel

          

     A brochure I picked up recently, entitled: Health by Choice, Not by Chance, confirmed what I already know to be true – there isn’t only way path to health.   And, people are searching and exploring many avenues to find approaches that are consistently effective.

     The brochure advertised the latest research on foods that can help prevent cancer and heart disease, reverse diabetes, lower cholesterol, slow the aging clock, and increase your energy while losing weight.  It also informed me I could purchase books about foods that have healing power, plants that have medicinal value, and an encyclopedia of health & education for the family, which included natural treatments.  “Whew, if it were only that easy!”

     In this age of one-size-fits-all health care, the public is often led to believe that there is only one way to be healthy.  It includes regularly scheduled doctor visits & exams, drugs to prevent disease and/or mitigate pain and exploratory and corrective surgery to identify and address functional or organic problems.

     But the information in this brochure reminded me that increasingly many people are seeking – and finding – other paths to health. Sometimes this is complimentary with the medical approach and sometimes it is in lieu of. It seems to me that people are simply seeking better control over their health as a crucial aspect of their whole life. They quite literally want to have health by choice not by chance. And, making healthier choices about various aspects of their lives – food, exercise, natural remedies – does have health benefits.

     One approach that the brochure did not offer – but is recognized in numerous studies as a top choice – is prayer.  And, it’s an approach I’ve found very effective.  Prayer – communing with, and trusting in, God – leads me to better control over my thinking and to better choices about every aspect of my life.  I find practical guidance in passages from The Bible such as this one: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes … It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.” (Prov 3:5-8)  And, I expect the results it promises – health.

     It’s great to know there isn’t only one path and that each of us has the opportunity to be healthy – by choice.

 

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