Creation Themes in Health

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit Vellore, India for the Shalom 2007 conference in Biblical Healthcare. Our Australian team included Ken and Ros Curry, Val Franzen and my daughter Rosie. Also with us in spirit but not in body was Jim Thwaites. Jim had been involved in much conversation with us about the nature of health and healing in the months prior to departure. He continues in the process of writing a much awaited book addressing the Bible, health, healing, heaven, disease, demons, death etc. All good content for animated Sunday lunchtime discussion!

The Shalom theme drew together people from around the globe with an interest in health. Wholeness was expressed in the gathered community, in the worship (which Rosie was particularly involved in) and in the teaching and discussion. All came with a passion to seek out the ways in which Biblical wisdom can add value to our contemporary practice of healthcare.

I spoke on Biblical Healthcare in a session shared with Ken and Ros Curry. My focus was on the “creation” themes of reality signs and remedial spaces and their application to my work in pain medicine.

The concept of reality signs recognises that God set up the creation in a way that mirrors our reality back to us. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve’s rebellion was followed by changes in their relationship with each other, with the land and with God. These changes mirrored back to them the degree of disconnection that had become their natural state. Reality signs work in exactly the same way today. Our sicknesses, pains and relational difficulties mirror something back to us. There is a message in our suffering. We may not always be able to respond to all aspects of the message. If our sickness relates to a genetic problem for example we cannot easily change our DNA. If the suffering and sickness of an individual relates to community behaviour it may again be difficult to initiate change. Campaigning to reduce pesticide use in agriculture is an example. Yet often our difficulties are a consequence of our own individual way of doing life and this brings meaningful change within our reach. We can often make changes that bring growth and healing.

The reality sign concept links the person to their illness in a way that is different to much of modern medicine’s understanding. Medicine often sees problems as primarily genetically and biologically determined. Out of this understanding can come an unnecessarily restricted treatment paradigm with an over emphasis on medically prescribed treatments and an under emphasis on lifestyle change and other more self directed approaches.

The reality sign concept can also challenge some of our contemporary Christian approaches to healing. If one rushes too hastily to healing prayer it is possible to miss the message of the illness.

The idea of remedial spaces follows on from the concept of reality signs. In fact the reality is that the whole of creation is one giant remedial space! A remedial space is a place in which we can begin to interpret our reality. We can begin to listen to the messages written in our problems and to respond to them. The task of the person in the “healing” role is in part to defend the safety of the person in the remedial space. The role may involve compassion and empathy along with the capacity to ask open questions that encourage reflection. There may also be a need for efficient medical treatment to provide relief of symptoms and give the sufferer some breathing space in which to think. Again modern medicine can at times be guilty of not honouring the safety of the remedial space. Patients may be pressured into treatments without the opportunity to consider the meaning of their illness. Again also Christian healing tradition needs to be aware of the need to support but not infringe the safety of the remedial space. As mentioned previously, too rapid a transit to prayer for healing may not be the best approach.

In the context of my work in pain medicine, the concepts of reality signs and remedial spaces are very relevant. The presence of pain has a message. In acute or short term pain the message is usually simple. Pain relates to physical change in the body. Persisting or long lasting pain is different and more difficult to interpret. Often it occurs in the absence of physical changes that produce pain. In these situations the message of pain is not about the tissues of the body. The message may then point to problems of emotions, thoughts, social, environmental or spiritual issues or to the wounds of the inner self or soul. The remedial space is also important. A key part of treatment is in sitting alongside someone in pain and helping them to interpret and act upon the message that pain speaks to them. Yes there is a place to use medications and procedures to reduce pain but this is only one part of what needs to be a much broader approach.

The wholeness of Shalom is about learning to look in the mirror of our difficulties and illnesses and about discerning the message and the path ahead. Often we need the help of supportive people around us to help us find our path and negotiate the many obstacles to a successful journey. We were not designed to travel alone!