Greg Kirscher: Rewards of faith | Local News
By all appearances, faith in America has fallen on hard times. Skepticism has written God out of legislation, education and chunks of everyday life. By some estimates, 75 churches close per week. Yet, despite societal pressures, those who keep the faith reap healthy rewards.
Writing in the Scientific American last month, David Rosmarin, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and Director of the McClean Hospital of Spiritual and Mental Health noted that last year, American mental health sank to its lowest point in history. Yet, the only group to actually see improvements in mental health were those who attended religious services at least weekly (virtually or in person.)
According to Rosmarin, health care professionals today falsely disconnect spiritual behaviors from science and clinical practice. However, in the mid-1960s, Dr. Paul Tournier, a Swiss physician, and considered by some to be the father of modern holistic medicine saw a profound link between faith and mental and physical health.
Tournier wrote that a healthy spiritual life, “can insure victory over the negative forces of selfishness, hate, fear and disorder which destroy peoples and undermine the health of individuals.” On the flipside, he went on to say faith gives people, “joy, energy and zeal needed in the daily battle for life and for the defense of health.”
How all this actually plays out takes an in-depth study of Christianity. But consider just one example. Forgiveness. Simply by living life, we all experience injustice. And while changes in laws can help, sometimes forgiveness is the only healthy choice.
