So I was having a good conversation about the theology of anointing for healing of persons who are "standing in" for another person who needs the healing. My friend Michael, chaplain of UCLA commented with the idea of spirituality in a quantum mechanics metaphor. I was asking him to tell me more about this theology.
And then...I accidently deleted my BLOG.
(Here insert a Charlie Brown "ARGH!")
So, I hope we can get back on track, talking about the meaning of healing by proxy.
What do you think?
About Me
- Joyce
- I entered the priesthood after two decades of being a college professor in health systems, rural health and long-term care policy, teaching and research. I enjoy putting together fresh liturgy that engages worshippers. I am passionate about the Episcopal doctrine of "via media," using scripture, reason and tradition as the means of theologizing.
I think your blog needs prayers for healing ;-)
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I don’t know how much I can really tell you about quantum physics and spirituality. At our Spring Clergy Conference, we had a presentation by Dr. Stuart Hameroff on the subject. But a lot of it was way too technical. But the upshot is that we tend to think of our world operating according to the principles of classical or Newtonian physics. But we know that is not the complete story. Quantum physics provides another model that explains how much of the world around us operates.
ReplyDeleteWhereas Newtonian physics says there is a lot of empty space between matter, quantum physics says that is not the case. There is a foundation at most basic level of the universe (the Planck scale) that is the basic fabric of the universe, the foundation that undergirds and supports all of creation. Dr. Hameroff and some of his colleagues have posited that this foundation upon which everything is built provides a connection between all that is (thereby explaining some of the strange things that happen at the quantum level, such as how something that happens to a particle in one location impacts a particle at a distant location). I don’t know if Dr. Hameroff would go so far as to say that this foundation that connects all that is is actually God or just a connection to God. That was a little unclear, particularly since he (Dr. Hameroff, not God) is an agnostic Jew. But the implication for spirituality is that everything that is is connected through this foundation, to everything else, as well as to God. As AKMA would probably say at this point, “but it’s more complicated than that” (at least, that’s what I kept thinking throughout the presentation).
So, taking this back to you original (now gone, but not in the quantum world) post, having one person seek prayers for healing for another would be beneficial and effective, as that person seeking the prayers (and all of us, for that matter), are connected via this foundational structure (God, if you will) to the person actually requiring the healing.
For more information on some of his work, you can check out Dr. Hameroff’s website at www.quantumconsciousness.org. So far I have not really been able to find anything on spirituality on the site, but then again, there is so much there. Hope this helps, or at least doesn’t give you too much of a migraine.
OOH
ReplyDeleteYou're such a big strong theologian...
Thanks.