John Of God

The other day I watched Oprah and she had a show featuring a man called, John of God.  I found it intriguing and it certainly made me feel how little we really know about the mind/body connection. To summarize, John lives in a remote village in Brazil and people flock to him from all over the world.
Some get cured and others don't.  Quack or healer?  From what I saw, I would say, healer.  And, certainly, not a healer in the traditional sense.  And I think that's what makes him so intriguing.  Untraditional.  We have all, or most of us been brought up in traditional, Western models.  See doctor, get diagnosed, get treated.  Usually, surgery, drugs, combination of both.  Having survived cancer and lived, I often wonder why.  In my case, I'm sure it was early detection.  But, I also had a sense something was wrong with my body.  I think my point is that we need to be more in tune with our bodies.  What visitors said about John of God was that he touched their brain or that they were afraid he would touch their brain.  I think the key word here is touch. Not in the physical sense, because he does that too, but in the spiritual sense.  The people who seemed to be cured were the ones who allowed him to touch their spirit.  Is that the key?  I don't know.  I don't think Oprah knows.  But what I do admire and always will is that Oprah throws it out there and let's you think about it.  I do believe there is something we are missing here in Western medicine.  I lived in California for awhile and alternative medicine was certainly more plentiful.  I think the answer is mind/body/spirit.  They must be in synch for cure to happen.  It is the balance, the "chi," the energy.  Whatever you want to call it. Like Oprah, I'm just throwing it out there.  It's something to think about.  I know I am.