Healing Miracles

The literature pertaining to health and medicine is replete with references to cases where patients have demonstrated so-called “spontaneous healing”—that is, instances in which serious illnesses somehow healed themselves in the absence of any medical explanation as to how recovery could have occurred.

Andrew Weil, MD, cites numerous examples in his book Spontaneous Healing: How to Discover and Enhance Your Body’s Natural Ability to Maintain and Heal Itself, including cases involving “A man whose lungs were filled with cancer (who) is sent home to die; six months later appearing at the doctor’s office free of tumors,” and “A comatose young man with severe head trauma (who) is expected never to regain consciousness; yet, not only does he awaken, but he suffers no lasting effects from his injuries” (1995). Likewise, in his book Positive Imaging: The Powerful Way to Change Your Life (1996), Norman Vincent Peale describes a recounting by one of his parishioners involving her own father, who evidently was extremely healthy throughout his life, living well into his eighties. The parishioner recalled that, amazingly, an autopsy performed after her father’s death revealed a history involving several serious illnesses, including more than one heart attack, which had evidently healed on their own. Peale also expounds on his own belief that we are made in the image of God, and God does not do bad work.

As I embrace a strong orientation toward high-level wellness, I attempt to bring a holistic perspective to everything I encounter. I have always held a strong belief that, in the case of so-called “spontaneous healings,” patients almost invariably harbored very positive beliefs regarding their body’s healing potential while engaging in actions—unbeknownst to their doctors—that played a significant role in precipitating a positive outcome.

As far back as I can remember I have also believed that faith, in the form of a strong belief in a beneficent higher power, can also serve as a powerful motivating influence in achieving a positive healing outcome. Fortunately, many (if not most) people recovering from addiction subscribe to a strong belief in a beneficent higher power.

With the foregoing background in mind, I will devote the remainder of this column to recounting a recent healing miracle that I observed (and to some degree participated in) involving a close friend and neighbor who possesses an exceptionally positive outlook on life.

A Real-Life Healing Miracle

About six months ago I walked down the street to visit my good friends Royal and Brenda. As we were talking, I commented that Royal seemed rather tired. He shared that he had just been diagnosed with bladder cancer—a form of cancer that is extremely difficult to treat—and that he was not looking forward to the rigorous course of chemotherapy he was prescribed, which was to be followed by surgery. I expressed my deep concern over this devastating news and then attempted to help my friend rise to the occasion with his own characteristically positive outlook. Having worked in and around the health care field most of my adult life, I commented on the amazing breakthroughs that have occurred in treating cancer over the past few decades, with exciting new breakthroughs being announced virtually every week.

Returning home from my visit, I pondered over my friend’s dilemma and was determined to do whatever I could to help him utilize his characteristically innate optimism to the max in licking that terrible disease. I reflected on the resources I utilize to bolster my own self-confidence and positivity when I am confronted with disheartening news in my own life, particularly in regard to matters concerning my health. I immediately recalled a wonderful little magazine published by Unity titled Daily Word, which I have referred to at the start of my day for over thirty-five years. I also recalled a Unity booklet I had recently read titled “Return to Wholeness: Living Healed, Whole, and Healthy” (Unity Worldwide Ministries, 2019).

A day or two later I returned to Royal and Brenda’s home, bringing copies of both publications. My friends were jazzed by both booklets and took to them like ducks to water. They immediately ordered their own Daily Word subscription and also ordered gift subscriptions for several friends.

Royal’s bout with chemo was extremely challenging. He was totally wiped out and lost practically all of his hair. Despite his suffering, Royal’s buoyant outlook returned, he joked about the various hats he was wearing to cover his head, and he was jubilant when the regimen of chemotherapy was finally over. He was looking forward to the next few months as a welcome respite before he psyched himself up for the upcoming surgery.

A few days after the chemo was discontinued, I loaned him my copy of Positive Imaging (1996) by Norman Vincent Peale, which my mother had given me decades ago while I was teaching a course in holistic health and wellness at a local university. I particularly urged him to read chapter nine: “Imaging – Key to Health?” Later that day he ordered the book from Amazon via express delivery; turns out that Peale’s exposition on the power of positive imaging was precisely what he needed to forge ahead with unflagging determination to sail through the surgery with flying colors and onward to a complete recovery.

As I embrace a strong orientation toward high-level wellness, I attempt to bring a holistic perspective to everything I encounter.

Serendipity struck big-time the day before his operation. That morning our local paper carried a letter from a woman raving about the quality of care and courteous, dedicated staff she had encountered during her recent surgery at the same hospital my friend was being admitted to. I immediately clipped the letter and brought it over to Royal and Brenda. When he returned from the hospital, the letter was still on the table right beside his chair, and he reported that he took Positive Imaging (Peale, 1996) with him into the operating suite. Royal had arranged hospital accommodations that enabled Brenda to stay with him around the clock. Prior to his admission and while in the hospital he received prayer support from his entire family and many friends.

I visited him at home several days after the operation and found him reclining in a comfortable chair, tired yet jubilant at having successfully pulled through eight hours of extremely difficult surgery. His full head of hair had returned, and I joked that he now had more hair than myself and his next-door neighbor Ken combined—not really much to write home about, as Ken is completely bald and I have virtually exhausted my own efforts to create the illusion of a low hairline via artful combing.

About a week ago Royal flagged me down on the street; he was just returning from a visit with his doctor, who found his body completely cancer free! Now he and Brenda are a frequent sight in our tract, cruising down the street in his top-down Jaguar sports car. We are all looking forward to resuming our weekend evenings at Catalina Craft Pizza, a nearby pub that features local musicians (including Linda Ronstadt’s daughter) every Friday and Saturday, specializing in “oldies but goodies” from the 1970s.

Reflecting on my friend’s battle with an extremely difficult cancer and his subsequent recovery, I sometimes ask myself if the outcome would have been the same in the absence of his strident optimism and determination, together with the ongoing offerings of prayer support from many good people. I guess anything is possible. However, as a firm believer in the powerful mind-body-spirit connection, I am most definitely convinced that my friend’s unsinkable optimism and overpowering determination to get well, combined with ongoing prayer support from both family and friends, are unequivocally important factors contributing to his highly successful recovery. God bless you, Royal and Brenda!

Until next time—to your health!

References

Peale, N. V. (1996). Positive imaging: The powerful way to change your life. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
Unity Worldwide Ministries. (2019). Return to wholeness: Living healed, whole, and healthy. Lee’s Summit, MO: Author.
Weil, A. (1995). Spontaneous healing: How to discover and enhance your body’s natural ability to maintain and heal itself. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf

John Newport, PhD

+ posts

John Newport, PhD, is an addiction specialist, writer, and speaker living in Tucson, Arizona. He is the author of The Wellness-Recovery Connection: Charting Your Pathway to Optimal Health While Recovering from Alcoholism and Drug Addiction (2004). He is available for workshops, conference presentations, and staff trainings on all aspects of wellness and recovery, as well as for personal wellness and recovery coaching by phone. He can be reached at [email protected].