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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30,1995 f ..ll^lJ; PRESS-REPUBUQAN ON ETHICS Spirituality can heal, science shows Editor's Note: This is first of a two-part series. The Harvard Medical School sponsored an unprecedented con- ference this month on spirituality and healing attended by 1,000 physicians, clergy and scholars who paid $550 to hear the grow- ing scientific evidence that I prayer can heal illness and pro- long life. \We have two major healing traditions — science and spirituality,\ said Dr. Herbert Benson, the meeting's organizer and president of Harvard's Mind/Body Medical Institute. But the worlds of medicine and prayer have been far apart for the past century. Dr. Benson's own research has found a spiritual path to heal 75 percent of insomnia, 36 percent of female infertility, and to reduce hypertension to normal levels in most people. Between 60 and 90 percent of those problems, can not be treated by drugs or surgery. He notes that all of us have a \fight or flight\ response to stress that increases our blood ,. , pressure, pulse a'nd rate of j breathing. This is the underlying cause of up to nine-tenths of the symptoms and diseases that br- ing patients to physicians — chronic pain, cardiac problems, infertility, insomnia, and certain cancers. \Yet all of us possess within us an opposite response,\ he says, \characterized by decreased me- tabolism, heartbeat and blood pressure. The stress response comes about automatically. The relaxation response requires two steps.\ \\•\ First is the repetition of a prayer, a word, a sound or phrase or repeated physical ac- tivity like jogging. Second, when other thoughts come to mind, disregard them and continue the meditation. While Benson does not tell his patients what to focus upon, 80 percent choose a prayer, such as \The Lord in my shepherd,\ \Hail Mary, full of grace,\ or \Shalom.\ But others may be repeating the number one or a mantra. All have the same physiological impact. Asked afterwards what it was like, people say they felt \more spiritual,\ even if their focus is non-religious! Specifically, people felt closer to the presence of a power force, energy or God. There are a thousand articles in medical journals on this meditation technique. (See Ben- son's new book, \Timeless Heal- ing: the Power and Biology of Belief,\ coming out in February.) In fact, the National Institutes ' of Health convened an indepen- dent panel in October which con- cluded that integrating behavioral and relaxation therapies .with conventional ~9PHHSP OTSKL f^RKi /iJ^Kmi KJ^^Ht lyMlkeMcManus FT| S j pe^sk[ F w\ ftv rfTflmi •»• mUmmmmmt 1 # :P Ut i MM treatment is imperative for suc- cessfully managing such condi- tions as chronic pain and insom- nia. \For us to ignore the role of meditation in healing would be irresponsible,\ asserted Benson. Yet that is exactly what the medical community is doing, charged Dr. Dale Matthews, pro- fessor of medicine at Georgetown University and Dr. David Lar- son, president of the National In- stitute of Healthcare Research (NIHR). ! They cited a number of studies bei|ig ignored by.physicians whjicjh proyide evidence of the wisdfom of Proverbs 9:10-11: \The fear of ithe Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For , through me your days will be m'any, and years will be added to your life:\ • In a study of 91,000 people in rural Maryland, weekly church attenders had fewer deaths than non-attenders: 50 percent less from heart disease, 74 percent less from cirrhosis, 56 percent fewer due to pulmonary em- physema, 53 percent fewer suicides. • Men aged 55 and over who rank religion as very important have diastolic blood pressure 6 mm lower than those who said faith was only somewhat or not important. This inexpensive in- ' tervention is much safer than prescribing anti-hypertension medication. • Even smokers who rate religion as important are 7 times less likely to have an abnormal diastolic pressure than those seeing it as unimportant. Larson quipped that if a doctor really cared about smoking patients, he'd say, \Get your butt to church!\ • In a San Francisco hospital, 201 coronary patients who had no one praying for thejn were twice as likely to suffer con- gestive heart failure than those prayed, for by people who did not even know them, and were four times more likely to have a heart attack. To learn more of such studies, call NIHR at 301 984-7162. Mlka McManus is a Christian layman, author of \Marrlag* Sartrs,\ and eolumr nlst for mor* than 100 n«wspap«rs no- tlonwld*. Israel assassination is top 1995 religion story MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The role of religious extremists in the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was the top religious news story of 1995, according to a poll of religion writers. The rest of the top 10 religious stories, in descending order: • The \men only movement\ in- cluding the Million Man March, which brought hundreds of thou- sands of black men to Washington, D.C.. • The Vatican-decision to label as \infallible\ the pope's state- ment that women should not be priests. • The Southern Baptist Con- vention's apology to black Ameri- cans for condoning racism. • The Rev. Billy Graham names his oldest son, Franklin, as his successor. • The pope's visit to the United States in October. • The Christian Coalition, a conservative group; issues a \Contract with the American Family\ and works to influence Republican politics. • Ethnic and religious warfare in Bosnia and the peace agree- ment aimed at bringing it to an end. • Embezzlement.of more than $2 million from the Episcopal Church, allegedly by its former' treasurer. • The pope's encyclical on ecumenism, issued in May and aimed at bringing Christian faiths closer together. RELIGION BRIEF Watch night KEESEVILLE - There will be a traditional \Watch Night\ service at the Good Shepherd Church of the Nazarene, 124 Hill Street in Keeseville on Dec. 31, at 6 p.m. The service will celebrate the close of this year and the first advent of Jesus, as well as to an- ticipate the new year and the second advent. Nursery will be provided. For more information, contact Pastor Pat Fleming by calling the church office at 834-9408. New priests, new energy Ticonderoga church gets fresh staff By LOHR McKINSTRY Staff Writer Southern E»*x Bureau , TICONDEROGA - Wo new priests and a seminarian are stirring the congregation at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Ticonderoga. \I'm kind of a heater-upper,\ said the Rev. -Floyd \Jerry\ Bleaux, the new pastor at St. Mary's Catholic Church of Ticonderoga and Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church of Crown Point. \I get people go- ing.\ Recently arrived with Bleaux are the Rev. Joel McHenry, the parochial vicar and assistant pastor, and seminarian Mark Reilly. Reilly will be leaving in February 1996 to complete his training as a priest. Bleaux, 48, is origiaaUy-4rom Plattsburgh and has been a priest for 23 years. \You're never really sure why the bishop sends you to a place,\ he said. \The bishop sees things that need to be done, and you go do them. The bishop saw it as a time to move on, get some things done here.\ He came to Ticonderoga from St. Mary's Catholic Church of Massena in St. Lawrence Coun- ty. \The last parish I was at was involved in major debt reduc- tion,\ Bleaux said. \There was a lot of dissension there. We had a church built on a swamp.\ He said St. Mary's will be in- volved in greater community outreach under his guidance. \The evangelical mission for the parish may be expanding,\ he said. \That's something I'm interested in.\ Bleaux said he's looking for- ward to a long stay at St. Mary's. \It used to be, you could count on 8, 9, 10 years at a parish,\ he said. \But the way the needs are today, you never know. \I enjoy it here, and. I look forward to enjoying it even more than I do now,\ he con- tinued. \I find this place has good people, enjoyable people, hard workers.\ His hobbies include cross- country skiing, walking, golf Staff Photo/Lohr McKinstry The new priests at St. Mary's Catholic Church of Ticonderoga are (from left): the Rev. Joel McHenry, parochial vicar; the Rev. Jerry Bleaux, pastor; and Mark Reilly, seminarian. They recently replaced priests who had been at the parish for several years. and riding his Honda 750cc motorcycle. \I look forward to hitting some of these back roads,\ Bleaux said. \It's my thing — I enjoy it.\ McHenry, 35, a Granville native, is looking forward to telling his story to the parish. \Why I became a priest is unique to all of us,\ he said. \I think God somehow wants me to tell that story — the experi- ence of what God was doing in my life. \There was a lot of confusion going on when I grew up in the '70s,\ he continued. \There was a lot of leftover stuff from the Vietnam War. Most of the peo- ple my age didn't know what to do\.\ He said he was in military service for a'while, but never thought of becoming a priest until a close friend died. \That changed my whole life,\ he said. \There had to be more to life than death. To me, that's kind of a miracle story.\ McHenry spends his off- hours playing golf and tennis and bicycling and said he hopes to have his own parish some- day. \They try to give you three or four experiences before you become a pastor,\ he said. Bleaux said pastors normally stay with a parish for six years, renewable for another six, but the parochial vicar usually stays two or three years at most. Reilly, 32, is the new semi- narian at St. Mary's and was in the U.S. Marine Corps for 10 years. He's a native of Fayet- teville. \This is a year in the diocese before I go back for my final year at the seminary,\ he said. \After this, I'll move on to another parish in the diocese. The bishop wants you to see different parishes.\ He teaches 4th-grade religion classes at St. Mary's Catholic School. \I'll miss it when I go,\ he said. \I try to go to as many of the church functions as possi- ble, to immerse myself in the parish life. \I've been playing basketball with the kids, going to Finance Council meetings,\ he con- tinued. \It's been a good experi- ence for me; some real-world training.\ \We're very impressed with him,\ Bleaux said. \He'll make an excellent pastor.\ Reilly said he and McHenry both decided later in life that they wanted to be priests. \We're typical of today's seminarians,\ Reilly said. \We went out and did other things before we went to the semi- nary.\ St. Mary's staff hope to expand youth activities By LOHR MeKINSTRY Staff Writer Southern E»ax Bureau TICONDEROGA - Expect lots more youth activities at St. Mary's parish here. The Rev. Joel McHenry said he feels one of the reasons he was sent to Ticonderoga was to expand the local church's youth- oriented programming. \Father Jerry and myself want to get some solid youth groups going,\ McHenry said. \I think there is a very good group of core kids here. There are some nice things going on here that we hope to enhance.\ \We want to establish a more solid con- tact with the Catholic church,\ the Rev. Floyd \Jerry\ Bleaux said. \We want to help our kids find the value and beauty of the Catholic Church.\ McHenry said he was a little wild in college. \My friends from high school and college can't believe I became a priest,\ McHenry said. \I found there was more to life than all-night partying. Kids have to learn early on in life that God is good for you.\ He learned the carpentry trade from his father and once had his own painting business. McHenry was ordained as a priest a year and a half ago. He's now teaching 8th-grade religion at St. Mary's Catholic School. \I really enjoy it,\ he said. \Along with that, it's important just being present with the other grades, letting them know you're there.\ Anyone who'd like to get involved with youth activities in the church can call him at the rectory, 585-7144. Kids ideas about heaven compiled in delightful book By DAVID BRIGGS AP Religion Writer What is heaven? \It's where girls get turned into angels ... and then God tries to do the best he can with the boys.\ What is heaven like? \There are no doctors or lawyers in heaven. ... They don't need them because God does all the healing and because all arguments are against the law.\ Out of the mouths of children come some of the most refreshingly personal views of God. In \Angels Must Get Their Wings By Helping Little Angels Like Me,\ a delightful new work from Kensington Books, David and Elizabeth Heller have col- lected the ideas that children ages 5 to 11 have about God, heaven and the angels. The authors write in their in- troduction that after extensive interviews with the kids, a separation of Earth and heaven has never seemed so tenuous or insignificant. Throughout the 101-page book, children tell of a personal God deeply involved in \ their lives. God is not portrayed as a dis- tant, wrathful judge, but as a loving caretaker. \God is sitting in heaven, but he isn't on a throne or anything, no sir,\ said 6-year-old Cara. \He's sitting in a garden playing with the children and the animals and letting them climb on him.\ From the children's vantage pointy God attends to details, from putting soda in the cafeteria to shutting off all the televisions in heaven if kids neglect their Bible homework. One can even take naps with God in heaven. Marie, 6, said that,one of the passing thoughts God has is: \I wish I had a bigger refrigerator. ... Then I could put drawings from all of the children in the world on it.\ God also takes care of loved ones they have lost. How did heaven begin? Seven-year-old Robyn explains: \A lot of people in the ancient years were crying because their grandmas and pas were dying, so God said: 'All right already, you win!' ... And so he made heaven a beautiful place, and he let the grandparents stay there forever.\ In Matthew 19, Jesus says, \Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.\ This collection of children's heavenly thoughts is not only humorous, but at almost all points it reveals the strong faith of childhood. \Most of the people I know be- lieve in heaven. ... You might say that we're just kids, but then maybe God just talks to us more often,\ said 10-year-old Michael. So is there any special test to get into heaven? \No said 8-year-old Peggy, \God just kisses you and says, Welcome aboard;\' PLATTSBURGH CHURCH OF CHRIST Church Phone: 583-2970 Mitchell S. Ghfeeir, Evangelist meeting at 3 Tremblay Avenue plattsburgh* NY 12901 near Plattsburgh High School SUNDAY Bible Glasses - 10:00 am Worship Services - lMOOam (Call about Evening Home-devotioftt) WEDNESDAY ' Bible Classes -, 7:00 pin a You are always welcome! , «.• t \ CHRISTIAN COUNSELING SERVICES 56 Brinkerhoff Street Plattsburgh, NY 12901 For Appointments, call: Philip R Rttggeri, ACSW (518) 561-6967 Evening and Saturday Hours Available FIRST ASSEMBLY OF GOD 164 Prospect Ave. Plattsburgh, NY 563-5799 Pastor Michael San Soucie A Full Gospel Church SUNDAY SERVICES Sunday School - Nursery Dm Adult430am Praise & Worship 10:30am Children's Church 10:30am Praise ft Worship 6:00pm Wednesday Services. 7:00pm CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE 187 Broad St., Plattsburgh, NY 561-1960 A Christ centered church with a family oriented ministry. Early Sanrica 9:30 am Sunday School 9:30 am 111:00 am Worship Sarviea 11:00 am Sunday Evening Santos 6:00 pm * Wadnasday Samoa 7:00 pm American Baptist Plattsburgh First Baptist Church Gerald J. Bentley, Pastor Corner of Court 'n Oak Streets Sunday Worship 1000am Sunday School 11:15am-12:15pm Child Care 9:45am-12:15pm Wednesday Bible Study 8, Prayer 7:30pm Parsonage- Church: Diol-A-Messoge: 561-7852 563-2793?' The United Methodist Church t Bookman St. at Bailey Ave. • Tele. 5(33-2992'- December 31sti 1995?; The Fint Sunday After Christmas Day 8:00 am Eucharist 9:00 am Church School 10:00 am Service of trie-Word \Caught in the Crossfire/* Childcdre Available % •&?.
