photo by chricycle

I’m lightheartedly gliding along a beach-side path on a gold rental bike with silver arched handlebars. Suddenly I hear someone screaming “Aaaaahhhrrrr!” It sounds like an angry pirate is heading toward me.

I quickly realize I’ve crossed over into the wrong lane by mistake as I made space for a friend riding next to me. A guy dressed for some serious biking was 20 feet in front of me, his face twisted with rage. I immediately got back into my lane and he passed by.

“Do you think he’s riding for his health?” asked my friend, tongue in cheek.

“If he is, it may not be working, unfortunately,” I said.

Of course I had made a mistake being in the wrong lane. But this guy’s response didn’t seem very helpful for him, especially if he really was riding to benefit his health.

Click here to read the full post on my new EverydayHealth community blog!

I paused. Great idea, I thought. I can do that now.

Click here to read the full post on my new EverydayHealth community blog.

Photo by Stéphane O

Living in a Quantum World. The June cover of Scientific American really caught my eye. It seems that for a while now, physicists have been saying yes, quantum mechanics exists, but it only applies to a category of small things, very small things. However, the author of this article, along with a growing chorus of other physicists, says it looks like quantum mechanics applies to bigger things too.

So what?

The author, Vlatko Vedral, writes, “In a quantum world, a particle does not just have to take one path at one time; it can take all of them simultaneously.” All of them, at the same time. Imagine if you or I could take various paths simultaneously. That would really break our concepts of space and time. My understanding is that sometimes physicists refer to this as non-locality, or perhaps, infinity.

Now I’m clearly no physics expert. The last time I laid eyes on a physics textbook was my senior year in high school, with a first-time teacher. God bless that poor man, who had to deal with a bunch of rowdy seniors. But regardless of my lack of physics knowledge, it sounds to me like these findings would have big effects on science if they’re true.

For instance, if our firmly held concepts of space and time aren’t exactly what we think they are, how would that affect the field of medicine? If western medicine assumes that we’re comprised of lots of very small particles that act and react a certain way in space and time, what happens if those assumptions are challenged? What if atoms and molecules are indeed non-local?

The author says that quantum behavior “forces us to rethink how we look at the universe and accept a new and unfamiliar picture of our world.” Indeed, it’s good to keep digging for truth. I, for one, look forward to seeing what quantum physicists discover next.

In a blog network that highlights diverse perspectives on science and medicine, Steve Silberman wrote an interesting piece called Meet the Ethical Placebo: A Story that Heals.  He discusses a study showing that some patients who take sugar pills, even when they are told they are taking sugar pills, get better.

Some of these scientists have decided that this effect should be studied, instead of just being thought of as a “statistical distraction,” as many pharmaceutical companies may have considered them.

So, back to the original question: why do placebos work? Silberman says, “The precise nature of the placebo effect is shaped largely by patients’ expectations.”

To me, it sounds like the mental nature of health is now being observed in these clinical trials. This is intriguing, and I’m interested to see that these scientists are drilling deeper into what’s behind cause and effect with placebos. Another finding is that the level of support and confidence a health care provider has with the patient and his or her situation has an effect on healing.

Why would a supportive environment matter if there wasn’t a mental nature to health? It wouldn’t. And why would patients’ expectations matter either? I’m looking forward to seeing what these scientists find next.

Sugar by  Uwe Hermann via Flickr

Even doctors are amazed at Giffords’ progress.

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MSNBC has a clip of Dr. Michael Lemole, Giffords’ chief neurosurgeon in Tuscon, saying, “Miracles happen every day. And in medicine we like to very much attribute them to either what we do or others do around us, but a lot of medicine is outside of our control and we’re wise to acknowledge miracles.”

Wow, that’s really interesting.

Focusing more on that idea, a Fox News poll found that 8 in 10 Americans believe that prayer helped Rep. Giffords’ survive the shooting. I hope it did. I know I was praying. But the Congresswoman could probably best answer that question herself.

I hope that Giffords plays a substantial role as a leader for many years. I wonder what she’ll do next. Return to Congress? Give talks about civility? Run for President? Who knows, the sky could be the limit.

I’m so grateful that all of the medical professionals involved in her recovery have been able to provide quality care for the Congresswoman. And I find it interesting that her progress is seen as “not normal”. That something else, indeed, is going on here. That maybe cause and effect go beyond what we can see and observe with our physical senses. Maybe divine Spirit plays a role.

Personally, I don’t believe that what we commonly call miracles are an aberration from normalcy. Because if something happens once, how could there be a real scientific law indicating otherwise?

A wise woman once wrote, “Impossibilities never occur.”  If it’s possible for Congresswoman Giffords to make this sort of recovery, doesn’t that open up the possibilities to many people who seek healing beyond “normal” recoveries and progress?

Photo by Mary Hodden

Can 25 big ideas change the world? Sure. Even implementing one would change it.

Recently the Christian Science Monitor published a piece called Ideas for a better world in 2011, which contains ideas from 25 thinkers – professors and policy makers, entrepreneurs and scientists, you name it. And what would it take to implement some of their ideas? Rational, deep thinking. Prayer. It’s striking how many of the ideas have to do with changing our outlook, and loving our neighbor better. We can do this.

But how? It seems like the history caught up around the issues addressed is intractable, divisive, a tangled web of territorial-ness. But with simple modesty and meekness it could be done.

It reminds me of Jesus’ sermon on the mount: one of his great teachings that includes the directive to be humble, wise, loving, forgiving, selfless, peaceful, even child-like. To love God and our neighbor, close and far. By replacing arrogance with meekness, hatred with love, grudges with forgiveness, territorial thinking with selflessness, we can all contribute to these solutions.

I resolve to let divine Spirit show me how I can specifically contribute to making the world a better place in 2011. Thanks for showing me more clearly how to address this, CS Monitor.

Photo by Steve Allen

Recently a poster stopped me in my tracks in a crowed airport. It contained an image of a poor woman in a developing country with the words “I am powerful.”

Yes, she is, I thought.

The world might tend to think that this same person could be one of the least powerful people around. But what gives her power?

Is it education? Money? Fame? Well, those things can certainly help, but it’s really ideas that enable her to make a powerful difference.

I considered this again when I read an opinion piece in the Huffington Post called The Decade of the Woman Is Upon Us. It mentions a study indicating that over one billion women will enter the workforce or start businesses by 2020. Now I don’t know how that compares to numbers of men, but it sounds like a fairly astonishing number. Additionally, it says that in the next ten years, generation Y women across race and ethnic lines will dominate the professional workforce, expanding their roles in upper management in professional services firms and in professions such as law and medicine.

That’s going to be interesting.

So what is it that’s driving this change toward more equality for women?  It seems to me that letting ideas shine through us has something to do with this. When I worked in economic development focused on several countries in Africa, it started to become clearer and clearer to me that all of us – women, men, children – all have access to ideas, from our divine Source – whether it’s ideas that lead to supply for ourselves or others, peace, stability, happiness, companionship, health, or any other need. Regardless of what situation we find ourselves in.

Photo courtesy of mbelibrary.org

One woman who was empowered by ideas is one who founded my religion – Mary Baker Eddy. She turned the status quo on its head when she was brave enough to counter male dominated religion in New England in the late 1800’s. This was before women even had the right to vote in America. Eddy had some incredibly different thoughts about the nature of reality and of mankind, including women, as individuals having complete freedom to express all of God’s qualities, including harmony, health, and supply. In fact her ideas were so significant that she’s been named one of only 10 women in the The Atlantic’s list of 100 most influential Americans of all time.

I look forward to seeing more women, and all people, recognize that they have powerful ideas too and can help themselves and society with these ideas.

Photo by Valentin Ottone

In “Walking away from church,” Robert Putnam and David Campbell dig into underlying reasons for growth of young “nones” — people who indicate that they have no religious affiliation. According to a national survey called Faith Matters, young people today increasingly associate religion with political conservatism, and conclude that religion is therefore not for them.

So what impact might this news flash have? Well, for one, it sounds like a wake up call regarding the combination of church and politics. Young people are taking the lead in pointing this out, by not walking in to churches, many of which may have very differing political views from their own. The survey indicated that young people tend to see religion as “intolerant, hypocritical, judgmental and homophobic.”  I think that gives those of us involved in religion some good food for thought.

I am grateful that my church, the Christian Science church, doesn’t tell me what political views to have. I have found people of widely varying political persuasions within my religion, and I’m grateful for the freedom to have diversity of thought. I feel, though, that I am always learning more about how to love selflessly, and I imagine that I, as a Christian, need to focus on that a bit more. After all, Jesus said that the two most important things to do are to love God and love our neighbors. If young people felt that love from churches, I think they might turn around and walk in.