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The Road Not Taken

 

I was working on my website this morning (westerntrailrider.com) and came across a picture of the fork of a trail in the woods on a facebook page. It reminded me of one of my favorite poems, composed by Robert Frost, to whose poetry I was introduced in the fourth grade my Mrs. Cernik.
Thank you, Mrs. Cernik. Of all I ever gained in school, that ranks among those things I regard most highly.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Robert Frost
(poem clipped from poemhunter.com)
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Words of Wisdom

Words of Wisdom

Words of wisdom, often times,
When twisted in distorted minds,
And spoken then in hallowed halls,
Reverberate within their walls,

And written down in books well read,
Considered not, but often said,
Spread far and wide throughout the land,
Misquoted, to promote and plan,

Altered, changed, repeated then,
Abused to serve the wants of men,
To prove their words, support their cause,
By reasoning and force of laws,

And then through subtlety of time
And unwise use in thoughtless minds,
And viewed in light not seen by all,
Become proof positive of the fall

Of man.

Tony Henrie
01/25/2013

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Road maps…

The most lost individuals I have ever known spent most of their lives trying to find themselves. Back in the 1970s, it was in vogue in the United States for one to depart from the beaten path of society and go out into the “world” to find himself. People young and old left family, friends, businesses, education, careers, and often all of the above, to go out and explore life, to find out who they were. This often led to experimentation with drugs and alcohol and many other things commonly considered to be counter-culture to the societal values to which the individual may have been raised-up. Many of these people eventually returned, in their later years, to be contributing members of society. In other words, after all was said and done, they finally found themselves back in the society they wandered away from. Others simply lost themselves in the effort and never contributed to anything but their own demise.

There are so many deceptions in the world today that one who attempts to leave the proven and well-worn paths in life, as he tries to make his own path, puts at risk himself, his future, and the happiness of all those who hold him dear. Those who tend to keep to the well-worn paths, cleared and smoothed by the feet of many successful people before them, are much more likely to end up in later years with happy, successful, and fulfilling lives, making all around them better and happier people as well.

Now, that is not to say that all well-worn paths are worth following, but one can easily look at a map and see where the road he is on leads. That is, unless he is making his own path. If one wishes to arrive at the city of “Successful”, he can choose to take the road that leads there, which passes through the townships of “Education,” “Discipline,” and “Respect”, and is located in the County of “Hard Work”, or he can take the back roads, which may take longer, may offer more scenic views, pass through different townships, but still eventually arrive at the same destination. In reality, both use established pathways that lead to “Successful” in the end.  Or, one may decide that he has no need to follow any established route at all. By that route, one may find it extremely difficult to judge progress, or even determine exact location at many points in the journey, and arrival at the destination becomes doubtful, or less likely at best.

When one looks at a map, he sees many roads leading to major population centers. One may decide where he wants to go and select the route that is most satisfactory for his purposes. The best and most direct routes are normally shown in prominent colors and broad lines, while the less efficient routes are shown in finer lines and subdued colors. The same concept applies to our endeavors in life. The most well-worn pathways are well-traveled, because that is how the most people get where they want to go. If one’s purpose in choosing another way is no more than a decision not to follow the established route, then one can certainly plan on delays in his arrival at…wherever. I once heard someone say, “If you don’t know where you’re going, it doesn’t matter when you get there.” If you know where you would like to go, but decide not to take the roads that will take you there, then other priorities clearly rule your decision-making.

I have often heard people, particularly in the entertainment industry, who, early in their lives led counter-cultural, immoral, vice-ridden lives, say they had, “no regrets”.  Many claim they are better and wiser for having passed through the addictions and unhappiness that resulted from the excesses of their youth. What a selfish view of the world! I submit they show wisdom only inasmuch as they have recovered from their foolishness and returned to normal life (as much as possible). The fact is, that they have returned to the established pathways of the society they departed from earlier in life. Do they simply disregard the good they might have done for others in the world, had they never departed the beaten pathways? Do they truly have no regrets for the pain, suffering, and shame they caused their parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, and friends during their, shall we say, excursion into the countryside? Maybe they should ask those closely associated with them whether they should have any regrets and consider their answers.

As a law enforcement officer, earlier in my life, I often became acquainted with volunteer counselors in various assistance programs for those suffering from addictions and other choice-related maladies, such as criminal convictions. Many of these self-designated “counselors” felt they were qualified to counsel others, simply because they, themselves, had been through the same problems. I often found myself shaking my head in wonder at the counsel I heard given from the mouths of morally impoverished persons, who considered themselves wise, who claimed to have wisdom gained from wandering aimlessly through life and experiencing the depravity of addictions and immoral living. How much more valuable would be counsel from one who had actually gained and exercised wisdom by making wise choices throughout his life. Compassion and understanding can be born from common experience, yes. A listening and understanding ear has a wonderfully uplifting effect on the troubled soul, I agree. However, the most valuable counsel, I believe, comes from wise people, who have been wise enough throughout their lives to stay on the “straight and narrow” path.

A saying I once heard goes, “You’ll get where you’re going, if you don’t change your ways.” I like that. It cuts both ways equally. If you are wandering, you’ll continue to wander, unless you choose a destination and follow the path to get there. If you follow designated pathways, you’ll get there sooner.

Notice how I said one must choose a destination rather than a path. To simply choose a path without considering where that path eventually leads, is foolishness. Doing that and returning later to the path you were on before is not wisdom, it is simply the cessation of foolishness. Choosing a destination and following the pathways that lead there, are what get us where we want to be.

The key, then, is first to desire to be in a worthy place, then to choose your destination, get on the right road, and start traveling. Road maps, whether real or metaphorical are good and useful tools in that endeavor.

Remember, “Wherever you go, there you are.”

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Personal happiness…

Not long ago, I watched a series of Clinton Anderson videos on horse training. I was quite impressed with Clinton’s methodology, his understanding of the learning processes of a horse, and his ability to communicate his knowledge to the viewers.  I thought they were well-organized video presentations that progressed in a logical manner.

I was particularly impressed with the respect and attention the horses gave Clinton and with the constancy and consistency with which he related to them. It seemed the horses were constantly looking at him, as if to ask, “Ok! What next?”, yet, when it was time to relax the horses were able to sense that from Clinton and were almost immediately at ease. The horses seemed to enjoy being with him, receiving his instructions almost eagerly. They appeared happy to be doing what he asked of them. I began to pay closer attention to the horses and their progress through the training, rather than what Clinton was actually training them to do.

In one video, Clinton brings in an older mare, who was brought to him for re-training, because she had become disrespectful and ornery to her owners. Her attitude and disrespect for humans was immediately obvious when Clinton gave his first command to her. She had her ears back and was rather belligerent. What she didn’t realize at first, however, was that Clinton “talks softly, but carries a big stick”, as the saying goes.

Clinton started conducting his ground training regime with the mare by “desensitizing” her to his training tools, consisting of a training staff, a stout fiberglass rod about 4-5 feet long, and a long string that may be attached to the end of the staff.  He touched and rubbed the mare with the staff until she understood that the staff did not hurt her and was not a punishment in itself. Then he attached the string and did the same thing, tossing it over her back and wrapping it around her legs. He did this until the horse stopped reacting at all to the staff and string.  Also, I noted that during training Clinton used the same staff to give reward, as well as punishment. The horse learned not to fear the staff and string and that punishment and reward came from Clinton, not the staff and string.

He then asked her to move her hind-quarters away from him.  Clinton did this by waving his training staff in the air and focusing his energy toward the mare’s hind-quarters. She ignored him. Clinton asked again by touching the mare on the rump with the staff as he waved it and focused on her hind-quarters. Again she ignored him. The third time Clinton asked her to move, he tapped a bit harder. She ignored. He then popped her hard on the rump with the staff. Her instant reaction was one borne of the disrespect she had developed for humans over the course of her past several years. She immediately kicked out at the staff.

The mare’s kick opened up a teaching opportunity for Clinton and a learning opportunity for the horse. The disrespectful mare had no sooner kicked out, than Clinton gave her a mighty “whack” on the rump with the training staff! I mean her feet hadn’t even hit the ground before Clinton hit her. The punishment for a mean, disrespectful, belligerent, and dangerous action was instantaneous. Clinton did not punish her for not moving, but for kicking. For the command to move her hind-quarters he simply increased the pressure, or discomfort, to persuade her to move, but for the kick she received a pretty severe punishment.

That was the last time I ever saw that horse kick. The next time he asked her to move her hind-quarters, she moved. Still not quite like he wanted, but she made the effort and from there she progressed, becoming increasingly more compliant, in order to avoid the increasing pressure from disobedience to his commands. From that point her re-training progressed quite rapidly.

Now, let me talk a little about the transformation I saw in that mare – the thing that inspired this post. At the beginning of the training this was an ornery, stubborn, disrespectful, and generally difficult mare. By the end of the video this same mare had a completely different personality. She looked to Clinton with ears perked forward, focused, and energetically looked for and obeyed every command he gave her. I was struck by the fact that this horse was actually happier than she was before. As I watched her with her trainer, she was happy! She looked like she was years younger physically, as well. She had given up doing things her way and was willingly doing what her master asked. She was happier being submissive and obedient than she was being disrespectful and belligerent.

Over the years, I have found so many parallels between horse training and human relations that I often wonder if the same training techniques might work with people…with a few adaptations, of course (the whacking with the staff thing is out). I believe that constancy and consistency are key factors. I believe another key factor, possibly the most important, is for one to find true leaders, or heroes, throughout one’s life, who have shown they are truly worthy of emulation, not because of beauty, fame, intelligence, or finances, but because of those things that truly make one great: honor, dignity, kindness, dedication, service, charity, and hard work.

In looking back on my life, I have been happier when I have been submissive and obedient to those in authority over me whom I respect and honor. I do not speak of blind faith or mindless following. I speak of following those who have taught me good and righteous principles over the course of my life. I speak of good teachers, church leaders, historical heroes, friends, and most importantly, my parents.

There is something good and elevating in submission and obedience to good principles that increases one’s ability to be happy.

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Trailing clouds of glory…

A close friend recently suffered the death of member of her family. It got me to thinking, once again, about life and death, where we come from, where we are going, and what is our purpose here.  I recalled the often-quoted verses of William Wordsworth:

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,   60
        Hath had elsewhere its setting,
          And cometh from afar:
        Not in entire forgetfulness,
        And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come   65
        From God, who is our home:

I had often heard and read this short stanza, but had never read the entire poem.  I took the opportunity this morning and was rewarded with a pleasant few minutes as I contemplated the words of  Ode, Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood. I copy/pasted it at the end of this post from the indicated source. If you have not before read the poem, I highly recommend it.

In my studies of religious doctrines regarding the nature of mortality, I find that anciently, the idea of the spirit of mankind existing before this life was not an unknown or strange doctrine. It was common belief in Judaism as well as spoken of in Greek philosophy.  It seems that Christianity, however, diverged from this view during the 6th century after Christ. During that same period came the rise of Islam, which teaches that the spirits of all mankind were created before mortality at the same time that Adam was created and was given life in the Garden of Eden.

Currently mainstream Christian doctrine teaches that the spirit is created by God at the same time the body is created in the womb and the two are joined by God as one. This doctrine is integral to what is commonly known as “Creationism.” I find it interesting, however, that many who profess belief in Creationism, when asked whether they believe they lived with God before this life, will respond in the affirmative, which was apparently the case with William Wordsworth.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS Church), also known as the Mormon Church, restored this doctrine of a pre-mortal life to Christianity in the early1800s when the Prophet Joseph Smith declared that man is as eternal as is God, his father. This doctrine was later further interpreted by the Prophet Brigham Young, who said that all men and women are literal offspring of a Heavenly Father and Mother, and that family relations created in this life after the pattern established in the eternal realms may also be eternal.

To be totally transparent, I will tell my readers that I am a member of the LDS Church. I am a Mormon. I believe the words of William Wordsworth in that single stanza quoted above were born of exactly the feelings he described in the poem. We, indeed, come to this life “trailing clouds of glory” as our Father in Heaven’s eternal children, and our birth includes a “forgetfulness,” by which we are able to develop faith in Him and in His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  When we die, we go “back to that God who gave [us] life,” (Alma 40:11) to account for what we have done here in mortality with the “talents,” (Matthew 25:14-30) or blessings and gifts, God gave us to work with, and, if we have done well, to live in joy and peace with Him forever.

That doctrine speaks peace to my heart. The Spirit tells me it is true. Were it not true, where would be the purpose in life? Simply to please God? For no other reason than “His good pleasure”? If I was created without a family, how could any relationship endure longer than “till death do us part”? Does it not lift the spirit to know that one literally is a child of God and not simply that in some ethereal sense? To know that there is also a concerned and loving, and eternal, Mother there in Heaven as well, awaiting our return? To then recognize the unavoidable logic that one may also become as they are? What could please God more than to have His children return to Him, to be with Him again and to live with Him throughout eternity, and to be able to inherit all that he has to give?

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Cor. 15:55).

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
William Wordsworth. 1770–1850
536. Ode
Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood
THERE was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
    The earth, and every common sight,
            To me did seem
    Apparell’d in celestial light,
The glory and the freshness of a dream.          5
It is not now as it hath been of yore;—
        Turn wheresoe’er I may,
            By night or day,
The things which I have seen I now can see no more.
        The rainbow comes and goes,   10
        And lovely is the rose;
        The moon doth with delight
    Look round her when the heavens are bare;
        Waters on a starry night
        Are beautiful and fair;   15
    The sunshine is a glorious birth;
    But yet I know, where’er I go,
That there hath pass’d away a glory from the earth.
Now, while the birds thus sing a joyous song,
    And while the young lambs bound   20
        As to the tabor’s sound,
To me alone there came a thought of grief:
A timely utterance gave that thought relief,
        And I again am strong:
The cataracts blow their trumpets from the steep;   25
No more shall grief of mine the season wrong;
I hear the echoes through the mountains throng,
The winds come to me from the fields of sleep,
        And all the earth is gay;
            Land and sea   30
    Give themselves up to jollity,
      And with the heart of May
    Doth every beast keep holiday;—
          Thou Child of Joy,
Shout round me, let me hear thy shouts, thou happy   35
    Shepherd-boy!
Ye blessèd creatures, I have heard the call
    Ye to each other make; I see
The heavens laugh with you in your jubilee;
    My heart is at your festival,   40
      My head hath its coronal,
The fulness of your bliss, I feel—I feel it all.
        O evil day! if I were sullen
        While Earth herself is adorning,
            This sweet May-morning,   45
        And the children are culling
            On every side,
        In a thousand valleys far and wide,
        Fresh flowers; while the sun shines warm,
And the babe leaps up on his mother’s arm:—   50
        I hear, I hear, with joy I hear!
        —But there’s a tree, of many, one,
A single field which I have look’d upon,
Both of them speak of something that is gone:
          The pansy at my feet   55
          Doth the same tale repeat:
Whither is fled the visionary gleam?
Where is it now, the glory and the dream?
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,   60
        Hath had elsewhere its setting,
          And cometh from afar:
        Not in entire forgetfulness,
        And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come   65
        From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close
        Upon the growing Boy,
But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,   70
        He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the east
    Must travel, still is Nature’s priest,
      And by the vision splendid
      Is on his way attended;   75
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.
Earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own;
Yearnings she hath in her own natural kind,
And, even with something of a mother’s mind,   80
        And no unworthy aim,
    The homely nurse doth all she can
To make her foster-child, her Inmate Man,
    Forget the glories he hath known,
And that imperial palace whence he came.   85
Behold the Child among his new-born blisses,
A six years’ darling of a pigmy size!
See, where ‘mid work of his own hand he lies,
Fretted by sallies of his mother’s kisses,
With light upon him from his father’s eyes!   90
See, at his feet, some little plan or chart,
Some fragment from his dream of human life,
Shaped by himself with newly-learnèd art;
    A wedding or a festival,
    A mourning or a funeral;   95
        And this hath now his heart,
    And unto this he frames his song:
        Then will he fit his tongue
To dialogues of business, love, or strife;
        But it will not be long  100
        Ere this be thrown aside,
        And with new joy and pride
The little actor cons another part;
Filling from time to time his ‘humorous stage’
With all the Persons, down to palsied Age,  105
That Life brings with her in her equipage;
        As if his whole vocation
        Were endless imitation.
Thou, whose exterior semblance doth belie
        Thy soul’s immensity;  110
Thou best philosopher, who yet dost keep
Thy heritage, thou eye among the blind,
That, deaf and silent, read’st the eternal deep,
Haunted for ever by the eternal mind,—
        Mighty prophet! Seer blest!  115
        On whom those truths do rest,
Which we are toiling all our lives to find,
In darkness lost, the darkness of the grave;
Thou, over whom thy Immortality
Broods like the Day, a master o’er a slave,  120
A presence which is not to be put by;
          To whom the grave
Is but a lonely bed without the sense or sight
        Of day or the warm light,
A place of thought where we in waiting lie;  125
Thou little Child, yet glorious in the might
Of heaven-born freedom on thy being’s height,
Why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke
The years to bring the inevitable yoke,
Thus blindly with thy blessedness at strife?  130
Full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight,
And custom lie upon thee with a weight,
Heavy as frost, and deep almost as life!
        O joy! that in our embers
        Is something that doth live,  135
        That nature yet remembers
        What was so fugitive!
The thought of our past years in me doth breed
Perpetual benediction: not indeed
For that which is most worthy to be blest—  140
Delight and liberty, the simple creed
Of childhood, whether busy or at rest,
With new-fledged hope still fluttering in his breast:—
        Not for these I raise
        The song of thanks and praise;  145
    But for those obstinate questionings
    Of sense and outward things,
    Fallings from us, vanishings;
    Blank misgivings of a Creature
Moving about in worlds not realized,  150
High instincts before which our mortal Nature
Did tremble like a guilty thing surprised:
        But for those first affections,
        Those shadowy recollections,
      Which, be they what they may,  155
Are yet the fountain-light of all our day,
Are yet a master-light of all our seeing;
  Uphold us, cherish, and have power to make
Our noisy years seem moments in the being
Of the eternal Silence: truths that wake,  160
            To perish never:
Which neither listlessness, nor mad endeavour,
            Nor Man nor Boy,
Nor all that is at enmity with joy,
Can utterly abolish or destroy!  165
    Hence in a season of calm weather
        Though inland far we be,
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea
        Which brought us hither,
    Can in a moment travel thither,  170
And see the children sport upon the shore,
And hear the mighty waters rolling evermore.
Then sing, ye birds, sing, sing a joyous song!
        And let the young lambs bound
        As to the tabor’s sound!  175
We in thought will join your throng,
      Ye that pipe and ye that play,
      Ye that through your hearts to-day
      Feel the gladness of the May!
What though the radiance which was once so bright  180
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
    Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
      We will grieve not, rather find
      Strength in what remains behind;  185
      In the primal sympathy
      Which having been must ever be;
      In the soothing thoughts that spring
      Out of human suffering;
      In the faith that looks through death,  190
In years that bring the philosophic mind.
And O ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves,
Forebode not any severing of our loves!
Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might;
I only have relinquish’d one delight  195
To live beneath your more habitual sway.
I love the brooks which down their channels fret,
Even more than when I tripp’d lightly as they;
The innocent brightness of a new-born Day
            Is lovely yet;  200
The clouds that gather round the setting sun
Do take a sober colouring from an eye
That hath kept watch o’er man’s mortality;
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,  205
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.
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Absence of Evidence

After reading my last post, my oldest son, who is about to graduate from medical school with high honors (if not from the school, certainly from his mother and me), sent me an email in which he was quite critical of the information from Dr. Chauncey Crandall, MD, which I so generously believed and repeated to my readers (if I have any besides my son).  After reading it, I decided he was right and that since I posted the information, I should post his revealing information as well. I have cut/pasted the bulk of his email for your benefit.

I’d caution you to be more skeptical of the information you receive from an online publisher.

 

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!” -Upton Sinclair

I agree wholeheartedly with the intent of the post and the feeling behind it, but I think you’ve had the wool pulled over your eyes by some fancy medical terminology. I haven’t found a copy of Dr. Crandall’s newsletter, but is sounds like either he’s grossly misrepresented the findings of the prayer studies, or you’ve misunderstood. There have been plenty of studies on prayer in medicine, because if it worked, we would do it. We do plenty of things that work – even if we don’t know exactly why or how – based off good evidence that they do. Prayer – when blinded to the intervention – is not one of them. That’s why you need to do much more than just pray, you need to let the people know you are praying for them (meditating, whatever your spiritual moment of choice may be). In fact, telling them you are praying for them and not actually doing it is arguably equally effective, albeit ethically dubious, and certainly more effective than praying for them but not telling them. Most of all, I’d recommend praying *with* them (if they are comfortable with that), as long as there are no ceremonies involving exposure to chemical or potentially infectious agents (ash, oil) and as long as proper hand-washing and infection control procedures take place before and afterward.
As for the post, the 150-person Duke “study” he referenced isn’t a study, it was a “feasibility pilot,” meaning they did a preliminary mini-study to see if doing a real study was practical. Here is the reference:
Krucoff MW, Crater SW, Green CL, Maas AC, Seskevich JE, Lane JD, Loeffler KA, Morris K, Bashore TM, Koenig HG. Integrative noetic therapies as adjuncts to percutaneous intervention during unstable coronary syndromes: Monitoring and Actualization of Noetic Training (MANTRA) feasibility pilot. Am Heart J. 2001 Nov;142(5):760-9. PubMed PMID: 11685160.
Their “Clinical Outcomes” portion of the Results section begins with this: “Rates of post-PCI ischemia, MACE, and ACE over the index hospitalization and 6-month mortality rates are shown in Tables V and VI. There were no significant differences between treatment arms.” In scientific terms, a “significant” difference means one that’s deemed not likely due to chance. This didn’t have any of those.
Saying that “only the patients that were being prayed for had lower complication rates” is downright misleading. Reading further in the study, it says that the prayer group had the lowest mortality *of the arms that got the special therapies* (prayer, imagery, touch therapy, and stress relaxation), but the “standard therapy” group (the ones randomized to receive no prayer or other intervention at all) had *no* deaths at 6 months out – none – whereas the prayer group had a morality rate of 3% (probably just 1 person, with such small sample size). However, none of that really matters, because it didn’t reach statistical significance, meaning, it didn’t reach the threshold for saying it was unlikely to be due to chance. Which makes sense, I don’t think anyone is arguing that praying for patients would make them do worse.
I mentioned it was a preliminary “feasibility” study – well they ended up doing the subsequent “real” study (MANTRA II). The reference for that one is:
Krucoff MW, Crater SW, Gallup D, Blankenship JC, Cuffe M, Guarneri M, Krieger RA, Kshettry VR, Morris K, Oz M, et al. Music, imagery, touch, and prayer as adjuncts to interventional cardiac care: the Monitoring and Actualisation of Noetic Trainings (MANTRA) II randomised study. Lancet. 2005 Jul 16-22;366(9481):211-7. PubMed PMID: 16023511.
This one had 748 patients, an amount estimated to be powered for statistical significance – in other words, enough for statistical methods to reliably suggest whether any difference between groups was “unlikely due to chance” or not. From their discussion section: “In MANTRA II, we studied two noetic strategies in patients undergoing coronary revascularisation: an unmasked bedside combination of music, imagery, and touch, and a double-masked, off-site array of combined congregational prayers. Neither therapy alone or combined showed any measurable treatment effect on the primary composite endpoint of major adverse cardiovascular events at the index hospital, readmission, and 6-month death or readmission.”
At 6 months, there were 11 deaths in the prayer group vs 9 in the no-prayer group… a nonsignificant finding, meaning that there was no “real” difference.
I can’t find any journal named the “Southland Medical Journal,” I’m guessing you meant “Southern.” My best guess is that he’s referring to this famous 1988 paper:
Byrd RC. Positive therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer in a coronary care unit population. South Med J. 1988 Jul;81(7):826-9. PubMed PMID: 3393937.
I hadn’t before read it, but I have to say that it’s probably the worst piece of “academic” writing I’ve ever read, even for a single author 25 years ago. I’m not sure if the author was actually associated with UCSD (reputable), but I would not consider the journal particularly well-known, I don’t know what criteria you used to deem it a “reputable institution.”
The first sentence in the abstract: “The therapeutic effects of intercessory prayer (IP) to the Judeo-Christian God, one of the oldest forms of therapy, has had little attention in the medical literature.” 2 pages later in the discussion: “In reviewing the social and scientific literature  on the efficacy of prayer to the Judeo-Christian God there seems to be no end to articles discussing it…”
The hospital course was graded by his own non-validated scale: “good,
intermediate, or bad.” Here are a few direct quotes from the study that… suggest the author may have had some bias (bolding mine – remember this is supposed to be academic medical literature… I’ve never seen anything like this):
“For the purposes of this study, intercessors were chosen on the following basis. They were “born again” Christians (according to the Gospel of John 3:3) with an active Christian life as manifested by daily devotional prayer and active Christian fellowship with a local church.“
“This may have resulted in smaller differences observed between the two groups. How God acted in this situation is unknown; i.e., were the groups treated by God as a whole or were individual prayers alone answered?“
“I collected the information on each patient in a blinded manner, without knowledge of the spiritual status, condition, or ideas of the entrants during the study.”
“In addition, I thank God for responding to the many prayers made on behalf of the patients.“
Even then, he admits: “Even though for these variables the P values were <.05, they could not be considered statistically significant because of the large number of variables examined.” So he then explains how he rearranged the data to achieve statistical significance. While the endpoints you mentioned may be true (after he manipulated the data), even then only 6 out of 26 outcomes were improved in the “prayer” arm of the trial.
I applaud Utah’s moves to improve work-life balance. More than cardiovascular risk, though, I hope it improves their mental health – and I think the volunteerism has potential to go a long way towards that. While they may have low rates of heart disease, Utah is frequently found to have the highest prescription antidepressant use in the country at about 20% of the population and the fifth highest age-adjusted suicide rate in the country.
I was going to post this as a comment to the blog, but it’s probably more appropriate as an email. The way I look at it is this: I don’t think you really care what science has to say about religion, so I don’t think it really matters to you whether or not science shows prayer to be helpful in healing. I’ll confess that I think it’s intellectually dishonest for you to care only if there are positive results, and claim not to care if no benefit is found. More importantly, I get upset when my family is actively deceived by fraudsters looking to make a buck with sensationalistic articles; your blog post applauding his article and linking to his site contributes (financially and morally) to Dr. Crandall’s misrepresentation of the medical literature.

 

I appreciate my son’s response, and he’s right. I should not have been taken-in so easily, just because Dr. Crandall said some things that I wanted to be true, and was crafty enough to couch them in such a professional looking newsletter with source citations, etc.  My son’s email caused me to reflect a little before I typed out my response to him.  I cut/pasted that as well.

You are absolutely right. If he abused the studies and distorted the evidence as you indicate, folks should know. I read the newsletter and liked what it said. I should be more critical of stuff like that. I didn’t pretend to understand the medical terminology, I just repeated what I read. I properly credited the author and cited what he cited. If he improperly interpreted the studies, as you say, he should be exposed.

You’re also right about me. I don’t base my faith in science, but then again, I don’t separate the two. I have dealt in evidence for a long time. I have learned that evidence comes in many forms. All forms of evidence have their value when given proper weight. I have received sufficient evidence through both physical and spiritual experiences that it would be foolishness on my part to deny the existence of God and the reality of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That far outweighs the “absence of evidence” that many people interpret as “evidence of absence” (to borrow a phrase you once told me). 

It’s sad that so many people feel so acutely the need to prove the existence of God, that they can justify the distortion of science in order to create evidence that He, in fact, exists. That kind of proof is always found to be false and does nothing more than reinforce the scepticism they were trying to overcome in the first place. If the existence of God could be scientifically proven, there would be no need for faith. If there were no faith, there could be no spiritual growth and the primary purpose of life would be null and void. I should not be so easily taken in, just because it sounds good. 

I think it’s safe to say that neither the existence of God, nor the power of prayer will ever be proven through scientific studies and research, for that is not part of the Gospel plan, and I was remiss not to be sceptical with regard to Dr. Crandall’s assertions.

If you don’t mind, I’ll cut/paste your email for the blog.

Thanks for caring enough to be concerned.

Love, Dad

My son is right. I have no need to prove the existence of God to anyone, nor to have it proven to me. I know that anytime anyone purports to have scientific evidence proving the existence of God, or anything relative to God, they are selling something (a $54/year newsletter, in this case). I just got sucked into this one because it sounded so professional, and, to tell the truth, because I was excited to compose my second blog post. Shame on me.

I have been given evidence enough, from the source of all truth, that I know, independent of all other sources, that God is in His Heavens, that His Only Begotten Son is Jesus Christ, and that through faith in Christ, all mankind may return to live eternally with Them. My responsibility is not to prove what I know to be true to anyone else.  My responsibility is to live according to what I know to be true, and to use what God has given me to help others live as well as they can.

It really doesn’t matter whether that makes my heart beat longer. I know it is good for my heart.

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“Giving is good for the heart”

I receive a monthly newsletter by a doctor named Chauncey Crandall, MD. In his December issue he discussed some things that are religious in nature, but that also have real health benefits.  For example, he cited studies from reputable institutions that show that patients suffering from serious illnesses show better recovery rates when they pray.  More significantly, in my mind, he also cited a study published in the Southland Medical Journal that showed that patients who were prayed for by others “had more favorable outcomes, including fewer complications, fewer cases of pneumonia, and they required less drug treatment,” than those who were not the subjects of “intercessory prayer”.  He supported that further by citing a study by Duke University in which 150 cardiac patients, who were admitted for coronary stenting, were given the following non-medical therapies: guided imagery, stress relaxation, healing touch, or intercessory prayer (people praying for them). “Researchers found that only the patients that were being prayed for had lower complication rates and a quicker recovery” (italics added).

The part of the article that really struck me, however, was a couple paragraphs about “giving.”  Not only with regard to giving things, such as money, but also giving volunteer service.  He said, citing a study conducted by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders, that, “Neurologists found that the act of making a donation activated the mesolimbic pathway, which is the brain’s ‘reward center’, in much the same way as if the person was eating or having sex.”

Further, Dr. Crandall cited another study reported by The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, in which former heart patients volunteered to visit current patients at Duke University Heart Center Patient Support Program. It showed that “the volunteers experienced a heightened sense of purpose and a lessening of depression. Those factors translated into a lower mortality rate” among the study population.

That lead my mind to the state of Utah, which instituted a 4-10 work week (four days per week, ten hours per day) for state employees several years ago.  One unanticipated result was a dramatic increase in volunteer service in the state.

I wonder whether, in a few years, they may also see their already lower-than-average heart disease mortality rate, go down further still.

Maybe there is something to this “religion thing” after all, huh? What did the Lord say? Something about losing your life to find it?

It seems that while service and giving is good for your spiritual heart and mind, volunteer work is good for your physical heart and giving is good for your brain, as well.

Interesting.

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Getting Started

I find myself occasionally having what I consider to be deep and poignant thoughts. Now, I realize the deepest depths of my soul may be pretty shallow in comparison to many who may read these pages, but I thought it possible that some little thing I write, or some little idea I present here, may at some time, in some small way, have an effect for good on somebody somewhere. So, at the risk of embarrassment and criticism, I will expose the shallowness of the depths of my soul on the slim chance that somebody may benefit.

I will invite comments, though I may not respond to them all. If you disagree, please do so civilly and do not expect argument from me; your thoughts are likely as valid as mine.

For my shallower thoughts, you may visit my website at westerntrailrider.com.