CHRISTIANITY AND HEALTH.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 61, 6 July 1908, Page 7

CHRISTIANITY AND HEALTH.

PAN-ANGI [CAN CONGRESS UIS-

CUSSiUN

THE "UNIQUE CLINIC" AT

BOSTON

"Mention was mado of the unique clinic in Boston associated with Episcopalian Church, where the piiysician, theologian, ana psychologist succesfully co-operate in tne alleviation of nervous disorders." •

This cablegram, published a few days since, referred to tne discussion by the "Christian Truth and Other Intellectual Forces" section of the Pan-Angli-can Congress on • Christian Science, which took place at the Kensington Town Hall (London) on the previous day. The "Unique Clinic in Boston" is described in the 'Century Magazine' for March last by the lie v. fcamuel McComb, D.D., of the Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Boston, where tho work is carried on. Dr McComb deals exhaustively with this "experiment in practical religion." "No thoughtful observer," says the reverend gentleman, "can fail to be struck by the fact that we are living in the midst of a widespread religious movement, the keynote of .which is the search for simplicity and reality. Men are everywhere asking, "What new think did Christ bring with Him intu the world P' and are convinced that in the answer to this question there are healing and reconciling forces strong enough to overcome all tho maladies ox life."

The writer goes 011 to explain that cautiously and circumspectly tne medical profession is coming to the conclusion tliat "mind cure ' lias much to say for itself, at least as regards many nervous disorders. Tne present dislike of drugs and medicines lias, ox course, grown fanatical; nevertheless, 'he contends, there is trutn benind ic which can be no longer ignored. Anu if medical science is to regain the esteem of the world, it must iairly ana squarely take tne ground tiiat for the great majority of tno ailments tnai afflict humanity the contents of the pharmacopoedia are of very limiteu efficacy; that for thoso the directly curative agencies must be moral anu physical. Indeed, it is to this position that the most advanced medico-psych-ologist experts are now coming. The experiment being made by the Boston church, Dr McCoinb says, is, in the first place, "scientific." "It was initiated with the approval of some of the leading neurologists of New England, and has been carried on not without their advice and co-opera-tion. Hence it differs from the various mental-healing cults by freely acknowledging that if the mind exercises a profound influence over the body, the body no less really affects the mind. This common-place is ignored by the quasi-theosophical systems at present in vogue, and men and women are treated as if they were disembodied spirits, instead of being, as they really are, very much at the mercy of physiological processes. Wo distinguish then, with science, between 'organic' and 'functional' disorders, and we believe that the legitimate sphere for moral and psychical methods is that of the 'functional' and not 'organic,' though even in the latter they are a valuable adjunct, inasmuch as they tend to strengthen the resistive powers of the patient against the pathological causes at work. We do not agree with those religious persons who would tie down the divine operation in healing disease to one method, nor do we think that it betokens any lack of faith to suppose that God can heal by pure air, good water, and even by medicines compounded by human skill. Why should we tax our psychic energies with tasks which could be easily discharged by physical instrumentalities?" A list is given of some of the disorders most amenable to psychotherapeutic methods, and the chief remedies are outlined. First and foremost is the power of suggestion. "The therapeutic use of this power is simply an application of a principle which is at work in the common relations and experiences of life." Another therapeutic agency which is absolutely indispensable lies in the faith of the patient. The higher and purer the faith, the deeper and more potent are its effects. Christ, Who was not only the greatest of teachers, but an evor-successful physician as well, achieved His mighty deeds through faith in God, which was the secret of His own life, and which He sought to awaken in the sufferer. It follows that trust in God will find natural expression in prayer. One of the most significant facts of the age is a revived belief in and cultivation of this spiritual habit. It is not a theologian, but a leading Amorican psychologist, who says: "As regards prayers for the sick, if any medical fact can be considered to stand firm, it is that in certain environments prayer may contribute to a recovery, and should be encouraged as a therapeutic measure." "In the light of modern science," explains Dr. McComb, "we do not believe that prayer can work a miracle—that is, a violation of those laws by which God rules the physical world, —but the same science has revealed the same world as a storehouse of infinitely subtle energies, man as the unity of matter and spirit, and material processes as conditioned by happenings m the spiritual domain. In many instances all these agencies must be supplemented by a moral and psychic re-education of the patient. This is effected by th 6 psychotherapeutic conversation. While suggestion is administered to a patient' while he is in a, calm, passive, and relaxed condition, the aim of tho dialogue between the patient and the psychologist is to arouse the energies of the conscious mind, to convince it of the unsubstantial character of the miseries that obsess it. In these interviews an effort is made to dig out of the mind the concealed cause of its wretchedness, to analyse this cause, to hold it up, so to say, in the clear light of consciousness, and so divest it of all its malign power." The clinic has been in existence for

about 12 months. "What of results?" There have been some rather striking and dramatic,cures; but these Dr. McComb purposely passes by, and confines himself to several typical cases of an ordinary and normal kind. Some random illustrations are taken from the clinic notebooks. The writer concludes : "It is a cheering reflection that the method here outlined is especailly applicable -to those deep-rooted perversions of human nature, half pnysical and half moral, before which the physician and the. minister stand baffled and helpless.. Henceforth no victim of J these disorders need despair. _ At hot-

which psychology has given her, the Church -may renew her ancient triumphs, ana once more stand between tho soul and the- abiding discouragements of humanity, sin, sickness, and death.