The Connection Between Science, Faith and Healing
I have always been interested in the connection between science, faith and healing. I use the word faith instead of religion. For me the notion of religion is too wide and takes in the world of dogma and doctrine. Charles Fillmore, Unity's Co-founder, acknowledged faith as a necessary driver for both the scientist and the theologian. He defined faith in this way: "The perceiving power of the mind linked with the power to change substance." Substance can be defined as the stuff out of which God fashioned the world in which we live. Scientists have been able to have faith in their ideas about creating new substances such as drugs, which have played a leading role in healing humankind of certain diseases.
I believe with Diarmuid O'Murchu that doctrine and dogma can and often does stand in the way of those who wish to understand how man is put together. For example, there are those who would want us not to use embryonic stem cells as future means by which we might be able to cure certain diseases, even when there is knowledge that these unused stems cells will eventually die. O'Murchu understands that this planet, Earth, has not been created by some far-away God but which is a planet among many planets, which as part of the universe is a part of all that God is. We truly are made of “planet stuff” as our cells have within them all the elements found in the universe.
I believe that there is a growing awareness of how all humankind is intertwined. We have established boundaries between us in the main for political, economic and military purposes, nothing more and nothing less. It is important that science, faith, and healing have no boundaries. Americans are going to Europe, Thailand, and to other places where they are being cured. Many of our doctors are from foreign lands where they have been trained. Obviously, much that is going on in the world of science and healing is not limited to the United States. God, in his or her infinite wisdom, has given powers to men and women throughout the world to use these powers for the use of humankind. There is no place for national chauvinism as we are all brothers and sisters of the most high.
If we take scripture, whatever that scripture may say should not divide us but rather join us together. I have some understanding of the scriptures of other religions such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and the prophecies of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Bahais and others. At the basis of these and other religions and spiritual paths there is a common understanding that we are here on this planet to love one another and treat one another with compassion, gratitude, and respect.
We see that this respect is growing. Different faith groups are getting together through Interfaith Councils to develop projects that serve the poor and those that have special needs. Here in Riverside County there a projects being developed to help orphans in Mexico and persons who are in "safe" houses as a result of abuse. We hope that there are more of these projects as time goes by.
