Uniformity with God's Will, by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, a little booklet that brilliantly explains why many things happen in life and why we were given what we were given, by a major saint who explains the path to love of God and perfection -- how that perfection is achieved only with Divine union and how important it is for our salvation!  CLICK HERE

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CONCERNS ABOUT MODERN MEDICINE EXTEND TO UNDER USE OF NATURAL REMEDIES, CLAIMED MAN WHO 'DIED' FROM A HEART BLOCKAGE

Let's face it, there is a growing groundswell for "alternative" medicine. At times, one nearly senses a general stirring against the medical system. In just the past few weeks, we heard from a couple of doctors who -- after conversions -- have intensely criticized other doctors. The main complaint: patients are treated impersonally and as commodities.  It is a crisis in our time.

To be sure, there are excellent, spiritual medical practitioners. We're in touch, all the time, with any number of them. In fact, another trend is doctors who are talking longer and even praying with patients (we ran an article on one South Florida heart specialist who is known for  miraculous laying-on-of-the-hands). Just last week (9/27/11) we linked to an article about a neurosurgeon who prays with his patients.

But that remains the exception in our era of "scientism." Can herbs -- natural treatments -- really effect the same results as surgery and medications?

In some instances, it seems, the answer is "yes," especially according to a fellow who wrote a book back in the 1990s called Left for Dead.

His name was Dick Quinn (now deceased), and as it happens, his conversion to herbs came (as in the case of two doctors I just mentioned) after a near-death episode.

It was May 29, 1978, when Quinn, 42 at the time, suddenly found himself sick, shaky, sweaty, and very tired as he waited for an elevator at eight a.m. in an office building in Minneapolis.

Quinn was having a heart attack and would learn that 98 percent of the artery feeding his heart was blocked, necessitating painful and expensive bypass surgery.

"Suddenly, an overwhelming presence seemed to take charge of my spirit, my life force, my soul, my being," he wrote of the attack itself. "By whatever name, my life was in its hands. I was swept up irresistibly with incredible power. It seemed my spirit was separated from my body, so my body could die. There was no pain. I wasn't tired anymore. I felt comfortable, peaceful, and strangely powerful.

"I soared high above, leaving my body standing before the elevator. I was suddenly floating in the air, watching myself down below. My body didn't collapse or fall in pain, it just stood there. I met my mother, who had died months before. I saw her as a hazy light among a group of lights I recognized as her friends. I knew her at once. There were other people, other lights. I recognized them as people I knew who had died. I recognized their spirits. My death experience was very pleasant and peaceful. I realized death is nothing to fear. I discovered the most important thing in life is to be kind."

The tranquility ended when he returned and fell into the orbit of modern medicine.

A by-pass operation didn't work, despite assurances by his cardiologist that he would be "good as new." During subsequent monthly visits the doctor told Quinn he was "coming along fine." But after Dick temporarily went blind, an examination indicated he needed another angiogram and possibly a second coronary bypass. "What do you expect," the doctor now indignantly demanded. "They took your heart out of your chest, stopped it, cut it, and sewed on it. You can't expect it to run right."

Too weak to go on, Quinn again felt like he was dying. "I had counted on him. I had put my life entirely in his hands. He was the expert. I expected him to have an answer, to give me hope. Instead, he got angry and rejected me. 'Go die,' he seemed to say. I was left for dead."

This is hardly to say the average doctor would act in such a way.

But too many may (one of the doctors we mentioned had a hellish near-death experience due to the way he handled patients), and whatever the case, that ended Quinn's medical treatment; instead, he turned to natural treatments, especially cayenne pepper, which had been recommended by an elderly woman as a way to cleanse his blood vessels.

Quinn claimed it had remarkable effects -- clearing his passages and immediately restoring his energy. "It's just incredible -- nothing less," he wrote. "I have controlled my heart disease, staved off a heart attack, felt terrific, and enjoyed a wonderful quality of life for years because of a common kitchen spice. Cayenne is my 'wonder herb.' I would not be alive today without it."

That was said in 1992.

Quinn died in 1995.

But, it seems, he had bought himself another seventeen years.

His argument: there is a gross over-reliance on surgery and chemicals, while doctors know virtually nothing about and often ridicule natural remedies that are accepted in most other parts of the world. "Drugs are scientific, so it's okay to kill you with them," he said bitterly. Do we too often harm the body in an attempt to cure it?

Of course, every situation is different -- and there is little doubt that certain medications and surgical procedures have extended many lives. It is an issue that must be discerned personally -- in prayer, through the Holy Spirit, Who knows the intricacy of each body. Without modern medical techniques, life expectancy would not be what it is. Look at how many are alive simply due to pacemakers.

But it does seem time for the medical community to take stock of itself (including, too often, its atheism), and begin considering natural alternatives -- whether vitamin C or herbs like valerian and passion flower or garlic and ginger (which some say lessen blood clots) or good old apple-cider vinegar with local honey (for cleansing) and wheat grass or hawthorn to grant more stamina and perhaps lower blood pressure and countless other plants, from dark vegetables to glucosamine chondrointin (for joint cartilage). Often, they help. Probably, God has left a medication for just about anything -- in His natural Creation.

These were remedies that have been around for thousands of years -- and should be revisited.

Many medications are based on herbs to begin with.

When we overly synthesize them, there are side effects.

Meanwhile, when doctors are necessary, prayer remains crucial. Speaking of near-death experiences, we have seen cases where those who "died" watched angels guide the hands of surgeons.

Careful: don't go overboard. Go into prayer.

There you will find answers to anything, including situations and sickness that seem to have no exit.

[resources: healing books]

[see also: doctor has hellish near-death experience]

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