Bringing The Sacred Back To Medicine

The Native Americans (like most, if not all, indigenous people) were skilled herbalists. They lived close to the land and to other living things and knew the plants very well- plants for food, plants for tools, plants for medicine, etc. Harvesting and using plants, including medicinal herbs, was part of daily life.
The use of medicinal herbs was governed by a deep respect for the plants and for nature. Tobacco would be offered when harvesting a medicinal herb and prayers would be spoken to bring healing to the person in need. The medicine was perceived as being a gift from the Great Spirit, or the Great Mystery, or God. Medicine was so intertwined with spirituality that Native words for "medicine" often also meant "mystery". Healing was approached with humbleness and a deep respect for the mystery of life.
This parallels Biblical stories of healing. Jesus in his time of glory and Divine urgency performed healings through teaching about faith- faith in the mysterious processes of God. One of the most significant and profound results of the chemical and surgical medical movement was the removal of spirituality from healing. Science has faith in what is known instead of what is mysterious. It could be said that in modern medicine faith is invested in the ability of the human mind to understand the world and the mechanisms of sickness, while traditional medical practices have revolved around humbling oneself to the all-knowing perfection of God and nature. The modern doctor dismisses what is not understood, while the traditional shaman embraces, in an act of humility, the basic reality that he or she does not understand.
The removal of faith from medicine is an important dynamic to understand when considering the weaknesses of our current health care system. In spite of constant scientific advancements people remain sick. Everyday a large percentage of our population suffers from various forms of aches and pains (including emotional) and a huge percentage of our population takes prescription medication every day. Even the fact that so many people suffer from fatigue and headaches on a daily basis is cause for alarm.
Every person is concerned with health on some level. Even if your own health is good and you have no fears about it waning, there is a good chance that you are occupied with concern for the health of your children, parents, friends, or co-workers. I think it is starting to become clear at the collective level that there is more to health than going to the doctor. Each and every person beyond a certain point in childhood must be responsible for their own health, by nourishing health through daily thinking, activity, food, and relationships. This is preventative medicine.
If we fail to nourish health on the most basic levels through a healthy lifestyle and wholesome food, no medicine can cure us. Modern health care would be more precisely described by the name "disease care", as prevention has been largely removed from the picture. This condition of medical care reflects a collective attitude towards life- which is that we see difficulties as problems. We want to be free from difficulties. We want our hardships to go away. We want our illnesses to be removed, even if by scalpel or chemical medicine. I believe this desire to avoid challenges reveals a lack of gratitude. If we are only grateful for those parts of life that are excessive, easy, luxurious, or pleasant, we are not experiencing true gratitude, for it is conditional.
Sometimes something happens in our lives which at first appears undesirable, then as time goes on whatever happened or some results of what happened may become desirable. I often consider how when I look back on my life there is very little that I regret. I would even say that I tend to be more thankful for the more difficult experiences. Yet, in the present moment I have the tendency (as I think we all do) to shy away from difficulty.
This parallels the dynamics of exercise. If a person avoids physical work and exercise, they slowly become more weak and sickly. While a person who embraces physical work and stays active becomes stronger and healthier.
Often when a person becomes very ill, life becomes more precious and a journey of prioritizing begins. Things that are frivolous or excessive are removed from one's life and minor problems get less attention. A person who embraces the healing process tends to focus on the aspects of life that have deep meaning for them and they develop a sense of gratitude for the people and simple joys in their lives and even a gratitude for their sickness.
I believe that if our eyes are truly fixed on the sacred, then everything that we see is sacred- every moment is important and every challenge is excepted with gratitude for the infinite order that gives us life and health.