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The Physiology Of Prayer And Meditation
Is there evidence to support these techniques for healing and pain relief?
It is said that there are no atheists in foxholes. There is probably much truth in this. In times of desperation, even some dedicated atheists seem to call on a higher power. Maybe they just see it as a “Hail Mary” pass, literally.
I went to MIT and many of my classmates were atheists. Reason, not faith, guided their lives. Yet before finals, some of these same students surreptitiously attended temple or church, or prayed facing Mecca. A few confided that their mothers were praying for them.
For some reason, these spiritual cynics still believed in the power of their mothers’ prayers.
In this, my fellow students were actually very much part of the mainstream of American life, as 90% of us have prayed for healing.
While this is an interesting statistic, here’s a meaningful question — does prayer actually help?
I ask this from a place of real concern as I am fighting off metastatic brain, lung, and liver cancer. I was given 6 months to live almost 2 years ago. The surgeon, whose candor I appreciate, didn’t give me 6 months of an active life — he told me I’d spend at my last month or two in hospice.
