The Modern Revival of Spiritual Healing

By Gilbert Henry Gedge

Mr. Gedge is no more a theorist but has been known for the past fifteen years as one of the leading practisers of spiritual healing in England. We are deeply grateful to him for finding time to write this article for us.

What do we mean by the term 'Spiritual Healing'? I think the best way to answer that question is to relate one or two actual instances. For example, a man suffering from what had been diagnosed as 'slipped disc' walked into the room of one who was described as a spiritual healer and asked for help. He said he did not know much about what the healer did, but his sister was sure the healer could help him. The patient was told to lie on his face on a divan, the healer placed his hands on the patient's back and, after audibly surrendering himself and the patient to Jesus Christ, called on Christ to do His perfect work in the patient. Some five minutes later the patient got up free from pain and feeling perfectly well, and remained so for over two years. He then had a slight relapse but was treated again by the same healer and again the trouble vanished, this time apparently permanently.

Another example, this time of what is known as 'absent treatment'. A girl of five years with an unfortunate home life had just started school when she suddenly developed attacks of bad temper, screaming and severe depression, and tearing out her hair. After psychiatric and hospital treatment she rapidly got worse and lost the use of her legs. The trouble was thought to be either a tumour on the brain or disintegration of the nerves, and she was given two years to live. The child was sent home and a friend of the family asked the spiritual healer mentioned above for help. He placed the child's name on his prayer list and the next day there was already a marked improvement. This continued, and three weeks later she walked unaided across the room. Within three months the child was able to run about and the fits of temper had practically ceased. Today that girl is happily married with a child of her own. In this case the healer never saw the patient; the work was done entirely by faith and prayer.

These two cases just cited are typical of the two main methods employed in what is correctly described as spiritual healing. Unfortunately this term is also often used to describe healing work done by spiritualists, who usually claim to be guided by the spirits of those who have passed on, and whose work could thus be more correctly described as psychic. The most notable exponent of this method at present is Harry Edwards, who undoubtedly has produced many remarkable results. He claims to work under the guidance of Lister and Pasteur, and specifically states that others can learn to work similarly under the guidance of other discarnate minds, whom he calls spirit operators.

The birth of the spiritualist movement about the middle of the last century coincided with the beginning of what is now known as the Christian Science Church. Its founder, Mary Baker Eddy, taught that God is omnipresent Divine Mind, and in her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, she says that all is Spirit and 'matter is an error of statement'. She goes on to say that matter is a 'mortal illusion', and that we lose the consciousness of matter as we approach Spirit and Truth (pp. 273-282). Thus Christian Scientists deny the reality of the flesh, of sickness and disease, and affirm the all-ness of God and His perfection. They go on to claim that by so doing they can bring that perfection into manifestation in the physical realm.

There is no doubt that both the Spiritualists and the Christian Scientists have produced some remarkable results, and whatever we may think of their respective methods we have to admit that they both played a significant part in compelling the world to recognise that there are unseen forces on which man can call for healing of both mind and body. The orthodox churches eventually found themselves compelled to consider their own position in regard to healing.

For centuries the church had been concerned almost solely with the welfare of man's soul; but now the world began to ask why the church was not fulfilling the behest of Jesus to heal the sick, cast out devils, and do the greater works He promised that His followers should do. In the early years of the Christian church spiritual healing, or what is now known as Divine healing, was practised by its adherents as a vital part of their religion. They believed that Jesus Christ by His victory over death was still available to them in all His mighty power, and that they could call upon His power by faith, by belief in His inevitable response to their call for help. As the Church became wealthy and powerful after being made the state religion of Rome, however, the capacity to call on Divine power for healing declined, and in consequence healing ceased to be regarded as part of the Church's ministry. Through the centuries there were a few individuals who practised Divine healing - healing in the name and through the power of Jesus Christ - but they were exceptions. Men like George Fox and John Wesley who had a living faith in the presence of God as an available all-loving Power have appeared from time to time, and their very presence has spread healing, but the world took scant notice of them.

Men's minds are being rapidly awakened to the realisation of forces beyond the physical realm which has previously been the limit of the majority of mankind's horizon. New teachers have arisen whose main theme has been the development of the consciousness of the immanence of God, the consciousness of the presence of God within man, and the realisation of the power with which that consciousness endows man. We are now waking up again to the fact that not only does man's thought affect his body for good or evil, according to the nature of his thoughts, but also that we are gods in the making and can call upon and use Divine powers to an extent that modern man has not previously dreamed of.

This has necessarily involved a new conception of the nature of prayer. Even the churches are now realising that a beseeching prayer to an outside God is by no means the most effective method of praying. Instead, God is realised as an all-pervading, all-loving, ever available Power which responds to man's faith in It and in It's responsiveness. Men are looking again at the words of Jesus Christ: "Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe, that ye receive them, and ye shall have them". (Mark II. 22-24). Many people are now proving these words - though few have yet risen to the height of casting a mountain into the sea! Many, however, are now able to cast out sickness and disease in varying degrees by their growing faith, and I see no reason why we should not expect greater triumphs in the future.

But, such progress and the development of the necessary faith requires regular spiritual practice - practice in realising the presence of God within us, and in the use of the power of our own thought, word and faith. Though mankind as a whole is still largely engrossed in the demands of the flesh and the material world, we here on this earth are actually at school to learn to develop and manifest our divinity, and the essential part of that training lies in becoming increasingly conscious of oneness with the Divine Omnipresence. There is no substitute for this practice, but if persevered with it will bring us into the realisation of the Divine Christ at the centre of our being. All over the world there are signs of the unfolding of the Christ consciousness and the healing works that follow from that consciousness. In recent years we have had remarkable demonstrations of that in our midst. Men like Brother Mandus, Oral Roberts, George Jeffries, women like Rebecca Beard, Agnes Sanford and Elsie Salmon - all have done great work to bring to millions of people the realisation that the power of Christ is just as available today as ever and can be called upon and used by dedicated souls. They have proved that the works of Christ can be done and still are being done today. They have reminded us that ours is the responsibility for increasing those works by stepping out boldly on our faith and attempting to do the things Jesus Christ said His follower should do. If we begin we shall find that Divine Power is aiding us.

The more enlightened members of the churches, both clergy and laity, our becoming newly aware of this responsibility, and in comparatively recent years there has been an increase in organisations for the study and practice of spiritual or Divine healing. Notable among these are the Guild of Health and the Guild of St. Raphael, both of which attempt to bring clergy and doctors together in healing work. Such organisations have their uses; but no organisation can of itself claim or demonstrate that it has healing power, Healing is not a matter of organisation; true healing can come only from conscious awareness of oneness with God and dedication to God's purpose. That purpose is always directed to the more perfect expression of life on every plane of being. So often when speaking of healing we tend to confine its significance to the body. But man is more than body. He is mind and spirit also - and God's purpose embraces all three phases of man's being. We are now realising more and more that the body is more often than not the reflection of the state of mind and soul. We are learning that wrong thoughts and emotions need to be replaced by thoughts and emotions attuned to the omnipresence of God if the body is to express wholeness. Though sudden and dramatic healing of the body is often obtained through spiritual means, such healing is seldom permanent unless accompanied by real change in the soul of the sufferer. That change may be simply a realisation of Divine forgiveness, a new comprehension of Ineffable Love, a new awareness of the all-ness of God, or a new realisation of the presence of Christ within and of oneness with Him. These are the ultimate ends of Divine healing, and if there is no evidence of any of them then the healing is not Divine, even though the body be temporarily healed.

In the practice of Divine healing what is known as the laying on of hands is widely used. In this practice the healer sincerely believes that through the contact of his hands with the patient the spiritual power upon which he calls is focused in a more direct and more effective way for the healing work to be done. Jesus used this method Himself and obviously intended His followers should do so. But, it would seem that often something deeper and more significant than mere physical healing occurs through the laying on of hands. Often there is a dramatic change in the recipient's soul. But for that to happen there must be real consecration and sincerity on the part of both healer and recipient in a desire to realise oneness with God and receive His blessings. Future developments in Divine healing will depend ultimately on man's complete realisation of that oneness. That is not a matter of practising a particular technique, however. It begins with getting rid of the little human self and letting the Divine Self manifest in and through us. Whether the ministration of healing is through the laying on of hands, realisation, affirmative prayer or intercession, really effective results will come only if the ministrant is completely surrendered and dedicated to Christ. That is not merely a mental it must include the whole man and process must emanate from the heart.

Certainly some healing results from purely mental action, which metaphysicians would attribute to the fact that this is primarily a universe of Mind. But such healing action does not extend to the soul and spiritual realms of man's being, though it may sometimes appear to do so. Eventually, however, a change of heart must be brought about which cannot be done by purely mental means. Only as we find oneness with the Eternal Heart of Love within our own heart will the Eternal Life manifest in all its perfection, beauty and glory on all planes of being.