What are the essential ethical dimensions of Christian Science healing as it is practiced around the world? How do the ethics of this practice play out in real life situations? Three experienced healers, who also teach Christian Science healing, gathered recently to talk over these important issues, and we're presenting their conversation in a multi-part series. While it runs, this series replaces the monthly feature Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on the Healing Practice. The Journal's spoke with and Judy's practice base is Arlington, Virginia; Phil (West Roxbury) and Sandy (Norwell) are based in Massachusetts.
Warren Bolon: How would you describe the nature of practitioner-patient ethics? Is it more than just a code of conduct?
Phil Davis: Dictionaries define ethics as moral principles, a code conduct. I like to think of it, when we're dealing with Christian Science practitioners and nurses, as the Golden Rule—about our love for others and that we will treat others in the way we would want to be treated. It doesn't come down to human policies as much as it does to loving others the way you would want to be loved.
Judy Wolff: Jesus raised the bar for everyone by saying that we needed to love as he loved, and he loved divinely. He took the whole idea of ethics up to God. What does God see in our fellow man? The ethics of a Christian Science practitioner will express morality, but it will be based on the divine qualities of God, and on God guiding both practitioner and patient, and lifting the thoughts of each to the divine idea of this relationship.
Karl (Sandy) Sandberg: I love to think of that question in the "Recapitulation" chapter in Science and Health: "What are the demands of the Science of Soul?"P 467). Mary Baker Eddy defined them in two great demands—the first being the First Commandment, loving God, but the second one being loving your fellow man. It's the two great commandments working together, Judy, just as you said, elevated by our Master through his discourses in the Bible and his teaching and healing work.
Judy: It's not just human do-gooding and human love. It's divine Love impelling the practitioner and the patient.
Phil: And we're talking about the core, the foundation of everything that Christian Science is—it's the healing practice, and the professional aspect of that practice. If we're praying for our practice daily, moment by moment, then we're asking questions in that prayer, such as, "Father, how should I be conducting myself today? Should I be taking on this particular case? How should I be dealing with this case the next day or the day after?" It's moment-by-moment decision-making that's based on prayer. It's not based on arbitrary rules, but on how God is leading us in our practice.
Sandy: One of the most significant issues of concern to me with regard to ethics, from the standpoint of the patient, would be, what would the patient be expecting from the practitioner with regard to counsel or advice? For many individuals just coming into Christian Science, they're used to turning to a minister or to a priest for guidance and to be told what to do. They naturally expect that when they turn to a church figure, that they're going to be told how to conduct themselves, what to do, what they should be doing in order to achieve success with what they're looking for. Is that what a patient would expect of a Christian Science practitioner?
Warren: They also may be used to turning to a medical professional to give them counsel on what to do in any given situation. Is there any difference in the Christian Science practitioner/patient relationship?
Phil: Well, there are healthcare professionals who are literally and legally in charge of certain patients' cases. It's a different model when we're dealing with a Christian Science practitioner. They're not "taking charge" of a case. It simply is not that model. What is the primary responsibility of a Christian Science practitioner? It's to bring to each case the most effective prayer that will result in healing. So, it isn't so much about what is not done for a patient, as much as what the focus is. And if praying for healing is really the focus, then you won't want to get into other areas, like counseling or advice-giving, or trying "to talk the patient into health." You're going to be focused on that prayer that will bring healing.
Judy: A practitioner is not an intercessor. In other words, a practitioner doesn't go to God on behalf of the patient and pray for God's help, because the practitioner has "a higher thought," or because he or she is more devout. The practitioner and the patient both go to the same God, and this same God reveals the inspiring, holy message to both. They're equals. There's no hierarchy in Christian Science. The practitioner is not a higher or holier being and their prayers aren't higher or holier. I have patients call and they'll tell about a particular problem they're working on, often one that requires a choice of a path or direction. I just had someone say, "From your higher viewpoint, what should I do? I'd love to hear your higher viewpoint of this." That confuses human opinion with divine mandate. A practitioner's human opinion is no better or worse than anyone else's opinion because it's just that—human, and a human opinion you can get from anyone.
Phil: We should add that practitioners are glad to talk with patients—to share citations to study, to talk to an individual about their relationship to God. But the focus is on prayer and on the patient's relationship with God, so we're not getting involved with humanly directing people, with trying to come up with what they should do walking on this earth. That's between them and God. I often will tell a patient when they ask me a question like that, "You know, I don't know. But I know who does know. Let's pray about that."
Sandy: Often it isn't just that a patient says, "What should I do?" but "Tell me what to do." The human mind is so used to looking for the easy way, and that's having someone tell it what to do, and then just doing it. That effectively absolves the individual of responsibility for whatever action they take. If the patient is coming to the practitioner expecting the practitioner to do the work for them and tell them what to do, the practitioner's responsibility to the patient is to gently, but I think clearly, help them understand that there's only one Mind, only one power, one influence at work, and it's not a matter of one human mind working to support or change another human mind. Rather, it's a lifting of thought to discern what God is—just as you were saying, Judy, to the divine will—and recognizing that the Divine is unfolding in consciousness exactly what we need. And as the practitioner is doing that, patients are able to hear what God is saying to them, and they're able to follow that clearest, God-given direction and path.
Judy: And Sandy, often that human opinion can even be, "What Bible verses should I work with" or "How should I study?" We are not the source of the inspiration for people's study and for how they work out their salvation. But if patient and practitioner both are taking it to God, and the practitioner is doing the metaphysical work, is handling the mental interference that would keep both from hearing that Word of God, the patient is going to get the answer directly from God, and have the inspiration that's so holy and precious, a sense of direction that they know is divine. Then, their relationship with God gets stronger. They're now clearer about how to go to God and hear His Word; they've developed a closer relationship with God, something so precious that no human being, including a practitioner, can interfere with it. You want the person going away with a closer relationship to God, not more dependency on the practitioner.
Phil: When I've been tempted to direct someone, to give advice, I found out later that I'm often wrong.
Judy: It's humbling, isn't it?
Phil: It is, and even though the goal has been there—that in their prayer with God they had to find their own way, the path that the Father lays out for each of us individually—it's not for me to figure that out. But I know that God has a plan, and through prayer that plan can come to light. It can be realized in that person's life. We want to be sure, as practitioners, that we're part of the solution and not a source of interference.
Judy: Mrs. Eddy was very clear in Science and Health on this, that opinion is not part of the Christian Science practice. She said, "The one Mind, God, contains no mortal opinions" (p. 399). When we're going to God, we're not getting a mortal opinion—such as, should the patient marry this person, or take this job, or even should they go to a doctor or not? These are all mortal opinions, and God doesn't have any. And so they're not a part of Christian Science treatment. Mrs. Eddy also said, "Science [referring to Christian Science] makes no concessions to persons or opinions" (Science and Health, p.456). So, a practitioner is not a pastoral guide, nor a counselor. The practitioner is walking with God, and also walking with that patient with God, but opinions are not part of this practice. I have to make sure that I'm clearing out my own thought of opinions, because they tend to block the view of the Divine. The more we free ourselves of that tendency, the clearer we see our Father, who does not opine.
Phil: I love her sound bite on this point: "In Christian Science mere opinion is valueless" (Science and Health, P.341).
Judy: Yes!
Sandy: The effect of making others' decisions for them, if we were to do that, would be, well, then they'd have the right to say, "You told me to do that and it was wrong, so it's your fault, not mine." And if you do give them good advice, then where would they turn the next time they needed to make a decision? They're going to come back to you. They're not gaining self-knowledge and responsibility. Well, that would be one way of building up a clientele, if you will, a personal following—but that's exactly the antithesis of what practitioners are here to do. Referring to Jesus, Mrs. Eddy said: "He did life's work aright not only in justice to himself, but in mercy to mortals,—to show them how to do theirs, but not do it for them nor to relieve them of a single responsibility" (Science and Health, p.18). Each one is responsible for his or her own salvation. It's to that end that the practice of Christian Science really needs to develop.
Phil: There's another element to this thing about being drawn into a case to give human advice. I think we've all been tugged at the heart. You have patients who are suffering. You have individuals who are just yearning and looking, and you can just feel how intense the desire is for, not only healing, but a path, a direction, and they're looking to you. This happens to all sorts of professionals who are in the healthcare business. But I think especially Christian Science practitioners need to be so alert that they're not drawn in to mere human compassion, but rely instead on the Love that comes with divine intelligence, wisdom, guidance. What you were saying earlier, Sandy, is so true. The way I would put it is, it's not just giving a person a fish to eat, it's teaching them how to fish. Each one can realize that individually we have access to God. These elements help to guard and guide us, that we're not drawn in to simply be there in sympathy with the individual, but to lift them up to that higher sense where they know that they have a relationship with God.
Sandy: That idea of the practitioner needing to be self-aware of their own sense of sympathy or personal involvement with a patient can get very specific when, for instance, an elderly person who has no family left, no one at all to care for them, asks the practitioner, "Look, would you be my healthcare proxy?" "Would you take my power of attorney?" "Would you be my executor for my estate?" And often, the heartstrings are pulled because we realize there really appears to be no one available to do those things. Is that an appropriate thing for us to be taking on?
Judy: If we're going to God in prayer, there is always a solution for that individual to find the right people to do those things for them, but it's not a practitioner's role or natural activity. I take it to the level that I think Jesus really felt when he gave the Golden Rule. We want to be seen as spiritual children of God, as perfect and whole, and consequently we see others as we would like to be seen—as whole, spiritual complete. When someone calls a practitioner for help, they're really saying, "I want to be seen in my true light as the spiritual, perfect creation of God." Even though the human situation may be a specific problem—like "I need a power of attorney," or "I'm not caring for myself properly, can you come to my home and help?"—if we're practicing the true Golden Rule, we're going to see them as we would like to be seen, as the pure, perfect, spiritual idea of God, loved and cared for by God. And the power of God will be present to resolve that need in a way that's healing and suitable for that individual, without the practitioner getting into the human dream, into that human picture. Because you can't fix a dream if you're in the dream, dreaming the same dream as the patient. Someone's got to stay awake and wake the individual from the dream, rather than get into the dream and try humanly to fix it. By the practitioner staying awake to the Divine and seeing that individual already awake, responding to and being receptive to God, we'll see evidence that the person truly is awake, is responding to and being healed by God, not by our good human efforts.
Phil: I've learned to ask myself: "Why am I not expecting prayer to take care of this fully?" Some time ago, a patient called me early in the morning. This person's been through some tragedies, and at that time had three small children, and the family's life was falling apart. And it looked like there were specific things that needed to be done that morning to help the children, help the family. This person was not asking me to do that, she was calling me to pray. But I felt, as a friend ... should I offer? I had to sit myself down and just say, "What does she need most? She needs to know that she has God's help right now on every one of these things that have to be done." Within an hour every one of those extreme needs was taken care of. They all came through prayer, and that taught me such an important lesson. We've been called as Christian Science practitioners to see that prayer is the most effective tool, every time.
Judy: There may be times when we go right to where the case is, to someone's home, and pray with them. One time a friend was in a terrible accident and was taken to a hospital right near me, and wanted Christian Science help through prayer. And I went to the emergency room and sat by her side and prayed until she had the strength herself to get up and declare that she was well enough to go home without medical help. That was an unusual situation, but there may be times when we go to the side of someone and pray with them. But each situation is unique and individual.
Phil: But during that hospital visit you weren't trying to become a social worker or just be a personal friend. You went there to pray. I love visiting patients, but it's always within that role, isn't it?
Judy: Exactly. The thought that came to me at that time was, "Do unto others as you would want them to do unto you." Wouldn't I want someone I knew was a Christian Scientist to be working metaphysically with me in this kind of situation? And so I went to the hospital, prayed, and when she was strong enough, she made her own decisions and decided that she was going to rely solely on Christian Science. She informed the doctors of her decision, and had a marvelous healing that the doctors witnessed and testified to. They had not had an opportunity to do the medical work they had wanted to do for her. There have been other times when people were taken to that same hospital, I'd been called, and did not feel the need to go there to be with them, that I could pray right where I was. Every case is a case we take to God, and God tells us in that case what needs to be done.
Sandy: Before we leave the point about involvement in personal affairs of patients, there's an ethic that the Apostle Paul leaves with us in his writings. He says, "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (I Thess. 5:22). It's something that we do need to be alert to, be conscious of. In the eyes of the public, and to family members and people around the patient, a practitioner taking on a power of attorney or a healthcare proxy for a patient would have the appearance of being a control mechanism, to gain something, possibly financially, from the circumstances in which they're involved. A patient has the right to expect that a practitioner is alert to issues that would produce contention, concern, and more difficulty with the case, rather than less.
Phil: You're describing at least the appearance of an ethical challenge, a conflict of interest.
Sandy: Yes, and avoiding the appearance of evil, being aware of what we're doing and its effects, is absolutely vital. Back to the idea of home visits, you put your finger on it, Phil, when you used the term "social worker." Most practitioners have big hearts, have such a desire to bless and serve their fellowman, that they will do anything, literally give somebody the shirt off their back, to help. And yet, in a professional relationship between practitioner and patient, the demand is to be so clear that the role of the practitioner is not one of social worker, or just simply to do good, but rather one of demonstrating through prayer the fact that the one Mind governs all and is caring for every need, and that we're able to see that fact demonstrated in the case. But that doesn't mean, as you said, Phil, that we don't go and visit patients. Sometimes going to the patient, to discern the atmosphere of thought around the patient for the purpose of being able to be clear in our metaphysical work, is something that is so helpful.
Phil: The healing practice of a Christian Science practitioner is public, and as such, when we're taking steps to have a more public practice, we need to be alert and aware that not everyone—in fact most people in the public—do not understand what a Christian Science practitioner does. They may liken us to a medical model, or some other healthcare professional model, and not realize the unique stature and position of a Christian Science practitioner. I hope all Christian Science practitioners are becoming more accessible to the public, but as we do so, we need to be aware of appearances and how we are viewed by the public. So, as important as it is to visit patients, when that happens we want to be so mindful of not getting into other roles or other models. Are we being perceived as in some role that's different from that of a Christian Science practitioner who is providing prayer?
Sandy: With children's cases, it's important to let the public, and the family, know how deeply concerned we are about the welfare of the child. And we do make visits in those cases, often regular visits, if they're called for. Not merely to see what is going on in the atmosphere of the home that needs to be addressed in prayer, but also to let the parents and the public know that we care.
Phil: Of course, with all cases we expect immediate healing, but with children we must expect and demand healing that takes place "quickly and wholly" (Church Manual, p.92).
Judy: I find it's very helpful to talk to family members, either on the phone or in a home visit, but especially if one parent is practicing Christian Science and the other is not. I like to talk to the one who's not a Christian Scientist to answer any questions and concerns, to confirm that they have equal right to care for the child, and that if they feel that medical treatment is the highest right, they are free to pursue that course. A child is both parents' child, and each parent has a right to help determine what's best for that child's well-being. I often find that when I talk to the parent who would perhaps like to go a medical route, and assure that parent that he or she has every right to do that and I'll continue praying with the parent who is choosing prayer, there is peace and unity, a sense that we're all working together. Once that fear of losing control is handled, the healing often happens overnight. If a concerned parent says, "Do you mind if I take the child to the emergency room, or take the child to the doctor," and I say, "That's not my decision, it's yours. You go right ahead and do what you feel you need to do," the moment that fear is gone, and I continue to pray with the other parent, we have seen healings on the way to emergency rooms, some documented by doctors at that time. And I have seen a number of those parents end up taking up the study of Christian Science, reading Science and Health, or at least supporting the Christian Scientist parent while they're going through other situations in the family. It's loving the whole family, and including everyone in that prayer.
