MY FATHER WAS usually a snazzy dresser. However, in his free time, he preferred a pair of old overalls for digging in his garden or taking me on blueberry-picking jaunts in the woods. During those jaunts, my dad would gab on about the woods, what grew there, and what medicinal plants were readily available for the picking. He talked about childhood memories of his grandfather cooking up medicine in his kitchen from plants and herbs.
He also talked about the world of Spirit and his belief that we are spiritual beings having a material experience. I have since learned that he was an Eastern Cherokee Native American (something he kept from us, probably to protect us from prejudice). However, the belief system I learned at home was out of sync with the medical culture around me, and also with the Sunday School I attended, where I became known for asking pithy questions my teachers couldn't answer.
In my early teens, I began to focus on the healing message of the Gospels, specifically, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons" (Matt. 10:8, American Standard Version). It all seemed pretty clear to me. Jesus had told us what to do. Why weren't we doing it? Why weren't we healing like he did, without herbs or drugs? Usually the Sunday school teacher answered, "That was then, this is now." Or, "Only the apostles were supposed to heal." This pushed me early on into seeking, studying, and experiencing many different theologies and religious practices.
