18 February
2026
The
Heart and Hands and Soul of Healing
Part
II
If
you read our previous essay, you may be wondering
how we can get Heart, Hands, and Soul back into
Medicine. Well, that would indeed be a tall order.
Systems and traditions generally change ever so
slowly. The American medical system has long been
corrupted by conflicts of interests and money,
politics and pharma. It may well have to self
destruct and be rebuilt in order to resurrect some
of the fundamentals of old time medicine –
sometimes approximating healing.
Science and Technology have taken over much of modern life to the extent that the media and the public believes that we just need to spend more energy and money to clear away illness and disease. But, medicine neither understands disease nor cures ills nor elucidates means to live healthful lives. The more medicine we have, the more problems we create – the sicker the populace becomes. Our society has been medicalized in so many ways – and often to our detriment.
We believe it is time for a paradigm shift. Long ago, people began to realize however slowly that priests and ministers were not required for them to get in touch with the divine. It took many centuries for Christians to understand the words Jesus Christ spoke, “Go into your closet and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will accede to you.” Matthew 6:6
Now, it seems more than timely to give medicine a rest, then work to return healing into the Hearts and Hands and Souls of any human willing to imagine such a thing to be possible. The Wise Creator surely placed into humans gifts of healing even while we have fooled ourselves to believe that only elites could be so endowed through education and training.
The light of the Sun fruitfully penetrates into every nook and cranny of the planet. So too, the light of the Spirit is constantly active within us and can be channeled to lift, aid, and heal.
HEART and love and empathy seem to be in short supply these days even while there may be greater need than at many times in history. Mental ills are epidemic in all age groups. A smile, a kind word, a good wish, or a pat on the back sometimes can be of enormous benefit – enough to make another human’s day or week or month.
But, Modernity and Medicine have been bowing more and more to Head and Intellect while losing Heart and Humanity over the generations. Technology and testing, procedures and prescriptions have taken the place – however weakly and falsely – of simple common attention and kindness.
The art of listening, as mentioned by Gladys McGarey in our previous essay, has been replaced more and more by algorithms and protocols. But, most everyone can listen or learn to do so. Open hearts can produce tiny miracles – and surely do every day with little recognition.
In the 1950s, Tinsley Harrison, the editor of a textbook on internal medicine named after him, wrote about “the present-day tendency towards a five-minute history followed by a five-day barrage of special tests in the hope that the diagnostic rabbit may suddenly emerge from the laboratory hat.”
Think how much worse it has gotten in 70 years. Then, think about how many people go to doctors and clinics as much for “social calls” as for some sort of attention. Tea and sympathy can go a long way to relieve so many modern ills. Large swathes of western society have become “medicalized.” Read Ivan Illich’s Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health.
You and I, John Doe and Mary Smith do not require an M.D. degree to encourage friends and family, to open hearts, to share love, and even to channel healing to them. Listening, being patient, offering time and energy are simple and fundamental ways to support this process.
HANDS are more and more covered in gloves, especially in medical settings. We seem afraid to touch anyone but our kin except with protective coverings. That while most everyone knows that simple touch can be ever so supportive, affirming and healing.
Perceptive medics have long been aware that the simple “art of touching” blends wisely with the simple act of talking with their patients. “The doctor’s oldest skill in trade was to place his hands on the patient…. Medicine is no longer the laying on of hands, it is more like the reading of signals from machines.” Dr. Lewis Thomas wrote those words over forty years ago and medics are ever more focused on reading signals instead of sharing love and comfort.
But again, we do not have to be medically licensed to touch, comfort and care. The ancients knew how to do so, even as uneducated, primitive peoples around the world today continue offering real care and even healing.
Then, there is one huge sector of the world population which quite naturally use their hands most every day to nourish and aid. The mothers in our very midst constantly feed and heal the little ones. But, mothers have almost lost one of their natural functions in society – being replaced by “the system of medicine.”
Not that long ago, this writer’s mother was “the healer” in the family. When we were taken ill, Mom would throw us back into to bed, baby us a bit, rub Vicks Vaporub on our chests and feet, and share her unendless love. We only saw doctors for sports exams and injuries. Now, children and their parents commonly attend physicians and return home with pills several times a year. Sixty percent of American citizens have chronic ills, according to the CDC.
We can try to emulate the mothers of old who naturally and instinctively shared healing quietly through heart and hands without fanfare or even recognition. Our communities can recover those simple gifts by turning off electronic devices and leaving doctors alone except for emergent problems. Then, we can relearn how to sit expectantly waiting for the “energy to flow” through our own hearts and hands.
Like mothers, church members can act similarly by following the practices of Jesus Christ and his disciples which are plentifully detailed in the New Testament. Simply put in the Book of James, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint [with their hands] in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up …”
SOUL now comes to the fore as the Christ and the Church have found place in our discussion. We dare not forget to say that God and the Divine are not restricted to one religion, church, or tradition. The Soul-Spirit is everywhere and in every being – most particularly in human beings – Imago Dei – who are “made in the image and likeness” of the Godhead.
It is past time to move from Soulless Medicine to Soulful Healing. We all are connected to the Divine and thus can be channels of blessngs and healing force. Universal Health Care is possible right now. But, it should be called Universal Care and Healing.
• Universal because the Divine dwells within all beings.
• Care because we are all capable – when willing – to give aid and comfort.
• Healing because our Source and Destiny include Holiness, Wholeness, and Health.
We do not need to go to a clinic or hospital to be prodded and poked – nor to church to genuflect and be anointed. We “merely” need to seek the Truth, Love, and Life which is ever-present and in our very midst.
Let us end by saying that true healing calls for involvement of Hearts and Hands and Souls. But since human beings can be quite complicated, other forces and organs may be required to restore health and wellness. Furthermore, Life itself is a healing process which ultimately requires many, many lifetimes to be fulfilled.
For more ideas, information, and inspiration go to https://healingmagick.net
Science and Technology have taken over much of modern life to the extent that the media and the public believes that we just need to spend more energy and money to clear away illness and disease. But, medicine neither understands disease nor cures ills nor elucidates means to live healthful lives. The more medicine we have, the more problems we create – the sicker the populace becomes. Our society has been medicalized in so many ways – and often to our detriment.
“Medical science has made such
tremendous progress that
there is hardly a healthy human left.”
Aldous Huxley
there is hardly a healthy human left.”
Aldous Huxley
We believe it is time for a paradigm shift. Long ago, people began to realize however slowly that priests and ministers were not required for them to get in touch with the divine. It took many centuries for Christians to understand the words Jesus Christ spoke, “Go into your closet and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will accede to you.” Matthew 6:6
Now, it seems more than timely to give medicine a rest, then work to return healing into the Hearts and Hands and Souls of any human willing to imagine such a thing to be possible. The Wise Creator surely placed into humans gifts of healing even while we have fooled ourselves to believe that only elites could be so endowed through education and training.
The light of the Sun fruitfully penetrates into every nook and cranny of the planet. So too, the light of the Spirit is constantly active within us and can be channeled to lift, aid, and heal.
“Nature affords a universal means
of healing and preserving men.”
Anton Mesmer
Anton Mesmer
HEART and love and empathy seem to be in short supply these days even while there may be greater need than at many times in history. Mental ills are epidemic in all age groups. A smile, a kind word, a good wish, or a pat on the back sometimes can be of enormous benefit – enough to make another human’s day or week or month.
But, Modernity and Medicine have been bowing more and more to Head and Intellect while losing Heart and Humanity over the generations. Technology and testing, procedures and prescriptions have taken the place – however weakly and falsely – of simple common attention and kindness.
The art of listening, as mentioned by Gladys McGarey in our previous essay, has been replaced more and more by algorithms and protocols. But, most everyone can listen or learn to do so. Open hearts can produce tiny miracles – and surely do every day with little recognition.
In the 1950s, Tinsley Harrison, the editor of a textbook on internal medicine named after him, wrote about “the present-day tendency towards a five-minute history followed by a five-day barrage of special tests in the hope that the diagnostic rabbit may suddenly emerge from the laboratory hat.”
Think how much worse it has gotten in 70 years. Then, think about how many people go to doctors and clinics as much for “social calls” as for some sort of attention. Tea and sympathy can go a long way to relieve so many modern ills. Large swathes of western society have become “medicalized.” Read Ivan Illich’s Medical Nemesis: The Expropriation of Health.
You and I, John Doe and Mary Smith do not require an M.D. degree to encourage friends and family, to open hearts, to share love, and even to channel healing to them. Listening, being patient, offering time and energy are simple and fundamental ways to support this process.
“Reach out and touch …”
“Handle with care.”
“Handle with care.”
HANDS are more and more covered in gloves, especially in medical settings. We seem afraid to touch anyone but our kin except with protective coverings. That while most everyone knows that simple touch can be ever so supportive, affirming and healing.
Perceptive medics have long been aware that the simple “art of touching” blends wisely with the simple act of talking with their patients. “The doctor’s oldest skill in trade was to place his hands on the patient…. Medicine is no longer the laying on of hands, it is more like the reading of signals from machines.” Dr. Lewis Thomas wrote those words over forty years ago and medics are ever more focused on reading signals instead of sharing love and comfort.
But again, we do not have to be medically licensed to touch, comfort and care. The ancients knew how to do so, even as uneducated, primitive peoples around the world today continue offering real care and even healing.
Then, there is one huge sector of the world population which quite naturally use their hands most every day to nourish and aid. The mothers in our very midst constantly feed and heal the little ones. But, mothers have almost lost one of their natural functions in society – being replaced by “the system of medicine.”
Not that long ago, this writer’s mother was “the healer” in the family. When we were taken ill, Mom would throw us back into to bed, baby us a bit, rub Vicks Vaporub on our chests and feet, and share her unendless love. We only saw doctors for sports exams and injuries. Now, children and their parents commonly attend physicians and return home with pills several times a year. Sixty percent of American citizens have chronic ills, according to the CDC.
We can try to emulate the mothers of old who naturally and instinctively shared healing quietly through heart and hands without fanfare or even recognition. Our communities can recover those simple gifts by turning off electronic devices and leaving doctors alone except for emergent problems. Then, we can relearn how to sit expectantly waiting for the “energy to flow” through our own hearts and hands.
“If doctors reduced their
involvement with people by ninety percent
and attended only emergencies,
there’s no doubt in my mind that we’d be better off.”
Robert Mendelsohn, Confessions of a Medical Heretic
and attended only emergencies,
there’s no doubt in my mind that we’d be better off.”
Robert Mendelsohn, Confessions of a Medical Heretic
Like mothers, church members can act similarly by following the practices of Jesus Christ and his disciples which are plentifully detailed in the New Testament. Simply put in the Book of James, “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint [with their hands] in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up …”
“God gave us the gift of
life;
it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.”
Voltaire
it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.”
Voltaire
SOUL now comes to the fore as the Christ and the Church have found place in our discussion. We dare not forget to say that God and the Divine are not restricted to one religion, church, or tradition. The Soul-Spirit is everywhere and in every being – most particularly in human beings – Imago Dei – who are “made in the image and likeness” of the Godhead.
It is past time to move from Soulless Medicine to Soulful Healing. We all are connected to the Divine and thus can be channels of blessngs and healing force. Universal Health Care is possible right now. But, it should be called Universal Care and Healing.
• Universal because the Divine dwells within all beings.
• Care because we are all capable – when willing – to give aid and comfort.
• Healing because our Source and Destiny include Holiness, Wholeness, and Health.
We do not need to go to a clinic or hospital to be prodded and poked – nor to church to genuflect and be anointed. We “merely” need to seek the Truth, Love, and Life which is ever-present and in our very midst.
“The kingdom of God is in the
midst of you.”
Luke 17:21
Luke 17:21
Let us end by saying that true healing calls for involvement of Hearts and Hands and Souls. But since human beings can be quite complicated, other forces and organs may be required to restore health and wellness. Furthermore, Life itself is a healing process which ultimately requires many, many lifetimes to be fulfilled.
For more ideas, information, and inspiration go to https://healingmagick.net
Comments always welcome
at theportableschool at gmail dot com.
