On Suffering: Pathways to Healing and Health

3. The Power of Religious and Spiritual Beliefs

3 * The Power of Religious and Spiritual Beliefs Postmodern medicine has, to a large extent, abandoned its passionate commitment to the whole person to embrace the cold, distant anonymity of the technological age. We have forgotten the wisdom of the words of the poets of the past. The British poet William Wordsworth lamented that “The world is too much with us” and that “we have given our hearts away” (1). In the poignant words inspired by Persian poet Hafiz, “Now is the time to know that all you do is sacred.” Many others are lost to antiquity (2). In medicine, such losses come at great cost to those who are ill and suffer and to those whose job it is to heal and cure. As seen in the previous chapter, failure to understand suffering results in a loss of human potential and an increase in health care expenditures. To fully understand the experience of suffering in medicine, it is critical to understand the power of an individual’s spiritual and religious beliefs, past and present. The purpose of this chapter is (a) to briefly outline key aspects of personal suffering in several major world traditions, including the Judeo-Christian tradition, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, humanism, Islam, and North American and African aboriginal worldviews, and (b) to show how these belief systems may impact on clinical practice. Because extensive examination of these issues is beyond the scope of this text, a comprehensive reference list is provided for those desiring more intensive study. Perspectives on Suffering The challenge to modern health care practitioners is, first, to understand the origins of patients’ cultural, religious, and spiritual worldviews about health and suffering and, second, to determine the influence of these belief systems in contemporary life. A Western Worldview: Judeo-Christian Perspectives Historically, the Western world view embraces the idea of a perfectly ordered universe in which there is an infinitely good, omnipotent God (3). Suffering occurs when there is a failure on the part of an individual or his soul to assume its proper position in the harmony of this ideal order. No suffering is senseless but rather is deserved or redemptive. In the most simplistic terms this worldview acknowledges that God is good, God is powerful, and evil exists. Because this perspective embraces the notion of original sin, the main task of the individual/soul, both in 40 Suffering: What Man Has Made of Man health and wellness, is to try to restore the natural order. Sources of suffering are imbalances in the body, distorted interpersonal relationships, difficulties with an individual’s powers of self-possession, self-control, as well as influences from the external world. Self-possession in this latter sense is often referred to as “the will” (4, 5). In Judaism, Rosh Hashanah is a two-day holiday in which individuals assess their actions, existence, and choices in life. It is a time for personal restoration and is followed by ten days of penitence leading to the holy holiday of Yom Kippur (6). In the Christian tradition the confession of sins is also a practice of appraisal and renewal of the self. The Lenten holidays and Easter vigilance are further examples of Christian self-renewal. Great value is placed on the power of the will and individual choice. Some believe that humans choose and even create evil, as is depicted in stories of the fall from grace in the Garden of Eden. There are many theories concerning the nature of evil. Some argue that there are natural evils such as earthquakes, physical pain, and death, and there are moral evils that are due to actions or omissions attributed to perversion of the will, knowledge, or love. Suffering is seen to be the consequence of evil in some form, and as humans we must experience suffering to help us grow in wisdom and grace. God does not cause or remove evil, but God does walk with those who suffer. Ancient teachings of privation theories (7) state that God created a wholly good but hierarchical universe. “Higher beings” have more good in them than “lesser beings,” and evil is said to be an absence of God. Others believe that suffering cannot be explained but is part of the mystery of God and all individuals can do is enter into an encounter with the mysterious presence of God, who is always with us even in our suffering (8). People cannot escape suffering, but they can transcend it. Past teachings described a synthesis between suffering and...