The healing power of the mind

In a world where people routinely profit from telling lies by deliberately spreading “fake news“, how can we know what is true? Quid est veritas? Before Pilate was born and long after he died, people still ask that same question: what is truth? Perhaps the better question is this: what does it profit a man should he gain the whole world, but lose his own soul? What should a man receive in exchange for his soul? In the big scheme of things, from my perspective money is nothing but a colored piece of paper.

Frankly, if I only cared about how much income I can earn as a writer, I’d have set up a Patreon account and solicit donations to support my work. Honestly, I wouldn’t even consider writing an article like this if my only concern was making money, because this is the sort of article that could basically alienate my entire audience.

While I don’t wear my Christianity on my sleeve and I don’t try to market myself as a Christian writer, I’ve also made it crystal clear that I am fairly convinced that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, and God raised him from the dead. The first section of my book Counterargument for God was mostly an argument advocating the idea of intelligent design over blind (and lucky) natural processes and effects, but the second section provided a rather rigorous defense of my Christian faith against the most common and popular criticisms.

Of course, if you don’t believe the soul exists, then it isn’t worth anything to you. A few atheists have even tried to sell their souls on eBay, because they only place value on material wealth. What we choose to believe will probably depend on existing beliefs — people tend to worry about the other guy’s confirmation bias, but rarely about their own. It turns out that eBay won’t allow the sale of your soul, using the following unassailable logic:

If the soul does not exist, eBay could not allow the auctioning of the soul because there would be nothing to sell. However, if the soul does exist then, in accordance with eBay’s policy on human parts and remains, we would not allow the auctioning of human souls.

In either event, you won’t be mocking the concept of a soul by selling yours on eBay. I refuse to put a price on my own soul, because I believe the true value is priceless.

Whether you believe it or not, I’m not a gullible person. Even though I believe in ghosts because of numerous personal experiences, I don’t automatically believe everyone’s personal ghost stories, even if that person is some sort of celebrity. A certain degree of natural skepticism is both reasonable and understandable. Intractable cynicism is not.

So if you simply refuse to believe it is possible for Carol to communicate with the physical body of another human being using only the power of her mind to  help that person’s body heal itself, then please, don’t waste more of your time by reading further.

Yesterday when I re-published my article about the alleged psychic healing ability of Carol Everett, I made it clear to the reader that I’m inclined to believe her gift is real, for several reasons. Today I’d like to explain why I believe her, any reasons for skepticism that I might have, and what I’d like to happen next. I’m ready to put my money where my mouth is, as they say.

But first, allow me to address the natural concerns of skeptics–I literally know almost nothing about Carol Everett, except for what I’ve seen on television and read on her website.

At Carol’s website, a red flag caught my attention.  I noticed that the same Dr. Yoshio Machi, who tested Carol’s abilities had also tested Uri Geller, the “psychic” famously exposed as a fraud by magician James Randi on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=431&v=M9w7jHYriFo

However, Carol Everett is not Uri Geller. Even if Geller proved to be a fraud, it doesn’t prove that Carol’s abilities aren’t real.  Nor is Carol anything like Peter Popoff. It’s okay to be skeptical, but unfair to be that cynical.

Should we assume that Carol is also a fraud, we must believe that Dr. Machi is part of the conspiracy. The problem is that Dr. Machi was obviously a legitimate scientist, and it’s pretty easy to find any number of published scientific papers he co-authored that are readily available on the internet.

We could assume the patient did not really suffer from a cancerous tumor, but we would also be forced to assume that special effects or trick photography was employed to create the impression that the tumor shrank and then vanished while Carol was fully instrumented and monitored by a room full of actors pretending to be researchers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0rRL4kwUEo

But Crohn’s disease is very real, and an illness for which conventional medicine has no cure. In my opinion, Jonnie Brown bravely shared with the media how she was helped by Carol Everett to have a normal life, after medical science admitted there was nothing that could be done to help her. In order to judge Carol Everett a fraud based on assumptions stemming from personal bias, I’d have to believe that Jonnie Brown and her doctors are liars.

The obvious answer to the question “Cui bono?” is that Carol Everett would benefit from lying about her abilities–but what motive does Jonnie Brown or her doctors have to participate in the conspiracy and lie about being “miraculously” cured of something as horrible as Crohn’s disease?

Now here’s where this story gets really interesting, in my opinion…why was I motivated to write about all this now?  Why did I suddenly decide to re-publish my first article about Carol Everett, written over seven years ago?

I’m going to let you in on a secret..something very few people currently know. My own mother is currently suffering from an “incurable” disease that has made it very difficult for her to communicate. Modern medicine offers no real hope for a cure or remission, so I’ve been praying for a miracle. During Lent I decided to “up the ante” as they say, giving some power to my prayers by fasting for three days. Shortly after my fast ended, I received a most unexpected but welcome email from Carol.

I can’t believe this was merely a coincidence, not after seven years have passed. I also believe that Carol can help my mother because of something she specifically said in one of the many interviews I’ve watched of her, In that interview, Carol admitted that what she doesn’t actually heal her subject.  Instead, she said that she helps that person’s body heal itself. Her words resonated with me because it so happens that a very talented and accomplished orthopedic surgeon once said that exact same thing to me, immediately after I’d just thanked him for repairing my broken hand. He humbly redirected the credit to where it was due. His choice of words wasn’t just a coincidence, either–it became the crux of my argument for intelligent design.

The main reason for writing this article is that I’m ready to put my money where my mouth is, as they say. According to Carol’s website, she only needs my mother’s name and birthday, which I will send her in an email with a link to this article, along with my request for additional instructions necessary to get this very personal “experiment” underway. I want Carol to help my mother. I sincerely believe that she can help my mother’s body heal itself, so I’m asking her to give it a try. In my opinion we have everything to gain, and nothing to lose, except perhaps some colored pieces of paper.

If Carol tries but my mother’s condition fails to improve, I can say that at least, we tried. However, if Carol succeeds and my mother can easily speak her mind once again, it will be a serious cause for celebration. And when that happens, I won’t care what any cynic will say about a placebo effect, because it won’t matter, as long as my mother’s condition has improved. I will believe, beyond every reasonable doubt, that my prayers were answered, and in truly remarkable fashion that demonstrates that Carol works by serving a higher power.

I already know that some of my Christian friends will be unhappy that I am willing to consider employing a psychic healer to help my mother, but please keep in mind, this is the woman who gave birth to me, and has sacrificed on my behalf for my entire life. How could I claim to believe that God answers prayers and ignore what has happened recently and the timing, and refuse to pursue what seems obvious to me? Must God answer prayers only in a way that can make sense to me?

I absolutely believe that God answers prayers, even the pleadings of a hopeless sinner like me. Truly, God works in mysterious ways. If God can make this entire universe out of absolutely nothing, then God can literally accomplish anything He desires. And if Carol’s gift is real, it could only have come from a higher power.

So I have decided to trust Carol, and ask for her help, because I believe that God blessed her so she might help others–including my mother.