The Role of Faith in Nursing

In the concluding chapter of her book, Susannah Cahalan describes her last encounter with "The Purple Lady," the nurse she introduces in a memory at the opening of her book. 

"I smile. 'Do you remember me?' I ask. 

'I'm not sure,' she admits. There's that the same Jamaican accent. 'What's your name?'

'Susannah Cahalan.'

Her eyes widen. 'Oh, yes, I remember you. I do remember you.' She smiles. I'm sure it's you, but you look so different. You look all better.'

Before I know it, we're embracing. The scent of her body is like Purell. Images flood through my mind's eye: my father feeding me oatmeal, my mom wringing her hands and looking nervously out of the window, Stephen arriving with that leather briefcase. I should be crying, but I smile instead. 

The purple lady kisses me softly on the cheek."

Cahalan's heartfelt account of the last interaction with this nurse who cared for her during her stay in the hospital suggests the special role that 'The Purple Lady" played in Cahalan's life. Though she never learns The Purple Lady's name, Cahalan's specific reference to her as The Purple Lady comes across as somewhat more endearing. The Purple Lady is also the last person that Cahalan gives thanks to in the Acknowledgements of her book. 

As a pre-nursing major about to spend the next two years of my life in nursing school, as well as a Christian, I often think about the role that my faith will play in my future profession. I have often heard arguments about the role of religion in healthcare and how many believe that one's religious faith should not play a role in how they care for the health of their patients. Nursing is a profession that is so obviously characterized by caring- caring for patients, their families, and all others that nurses come in contact with. But, as a Christian whose idea of caring is shaped wholly by my religious faith and belief in God's love for his creation, how do I apply my view of caring to a setting characterized by a more secular idea of how to care for others in our postmodern world? 

Because I was born into a Christian family and raised in the Church, my faith and religion have always been the most important shaping aspects of my life. Therefore, I do not believe in separating my faith from the shaping of my opinions and beliefs, as well as my daily interactions with other people. In studying Christ as the second mountain peak, we see Christ as a countercultural healer. Jesus's acts of healing often stood in direct opposition to the laws of his time. For example, Mark describes Jesus' healing of a man at the synagogue on the Sabbath. To those who were there trying to find a reason to accuse Jesus, he asks, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?" (Mark 3:4). After this, Jesus proceeds to heal the man. As Christians, we are called to live lives that emulate Jesus and his love for his people. Jesus' willingness to love and to heal despite what what culturally accepted during his life stands as an example to me of the role of faith in my caring for my future patients. Despite the cultural evolutions of modernism and postmodernism, God's command is still the same- to love one another. In nursing, Christians nurses serve as representatives of God's love for His people. For Christian nurses, nursing is a ministry. Nursing gives Christian nurses the opportunity to share and spread the message of God's mercy and grace through our caring in words and in deeds. For this reason, I hope to effectively love like Christ loves through my caring. Whether through prayer, Biblical encouragement, or simply through my words and actions, I hope to fulfill the purpose to which I believe the Lord has called me. I hope to live my life and do my job in such a way that those around me might know the love of the God that I serve through my love for others.

A Vision for Nursing Students

Road to Recovery: The Church and Love

"I can say, in all honesty, that without the incredible people who make up my life, I would not be here now writing these words." 

                                                                      

                                                                                              -Susannah Cahalan

Susannah Cahalan had a great support system of family and friends who walked with her throughout her sickness and recovery. She credits the love and encouragement of her family and friends with her ability to thrive. At the conclusion of her book, Cahalan is asked, "If you could take it all back, would you?" Her response:

"At the time I didn't know. Now I do. I wouldn't take that terrible experience back for anything in the world. Too much light has come out of my darkness" (252). 

 Despite such a horrific and life-threatening experience, Cahalan was able to return to the world she left behind with wisdom, strength, and courage thanks to the dedicated love and encouragement of her family, friends, and doctors.

Although the aspect of Christian faith was not prevalent in Cahalan's novel, I found myself wondering how her journey and recovery might have been shaped in a Christian community- in particularly, the Church. As members of the Church and followers of Christ, our purpose should be to love others the way God commands us to love. The Church, often thought of as the Body of Christ, should serve as a reflection of the words, deeds, and love of Jesus Christ. Nowhere in Scripture is the church commanded to marginalize or stigmatize the sick, the poor, or the sinners. Why, then, is that sometimes the case? In Romans 15, Paul says, "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up" (Romans 15: 1-2). So often those dealing with mental illness, addiction, or other hardships are blamed for their suffering, even by those in the church. In the book of Matthew, we are commanded not to judge others because only God has the authority to do so; only God is able to judge the actions of His people against His ultimate standard of perfection. Despite our ultimate imperfections, however, God loves us anyways. For this reason, He calls us, too, to love each other- to love His creation. Therefore, as to the role of the Church in recovery, I believe our command is simple: we are to love. We are to love those who are suffering and those who are actively working to edify past mistakes. The love we show should be patient, kind, gentle, and understanding- a love that seeks to glorify the ultimate love of a God whose love surpasses all things. 

A Christian Perspective on Modern Medicine

Earlier this week, a friend told me a story of a situation she encountered in one of her classes while talking to a group of people who are all members of the same church here in Waco. One of the girls in the group had been sick for about a week or so, but, instead of going to a doctor to have her symptoms diagnosed and treated, she and some other members of her church community were praying for her healing. During this class, she told the others, including my friend, that her symptoms had not improved and that she was most likely going to make an appointment to see the doctor. My friend, somewhat jokingly, made a comment that maybe through her prayers God was providing her with more faith in modern medicine. The entire group was stunned and offended by this comment and reprimanded her, asserting, "Prayer is a very powerful thing." 

I find this story very interesting because it perfectly illustrates one Christian perspective regarding modern medicine, although not necessarily one that is relatively common, that I wish to address. Modern medicine is an issue that raises debate among some Christians who feel that faith in modern medicine contributes to a lack of faith in the power of God and his healing. Like the people mentioned in the story above, many Christians believe that prayer and scripture are effective in bringing about healing of disease and sickness, including mental illness. Although I fully believe that God has the power to heal any person of any disease or illness, I believe that God has blessed us with the success and progressivism of modern medicine as a means of healing, which we should fully utilize.

The use of modern medicine in contrast with God's divine healing power raises controversy due to a fundemental disconnect in perspective. One perspective argues that God's divine and omnipotent power is sufficient for healing and that embracing modern medicine undermines faith in God's healing power. According to these premises, faith in modern medicine and faith in God's healing power are mutually exclusive beliefs. The antithetical perspective, however, argues that, while God is fully capable of healing by his power alone, more often than not, modern medicine is also needed. This position, however, places characteristics of absolute necessity on modern medicine. In other words, modern medicine is needed despite God's true sovereignty. 

What these contrasting perspectives lack is some sort of middle ground. God's healing power is indeed fully sufficient under any circumstance. Therefore, we do not necessarily need modern medicine. God has gifted us with life; furthermore, he has blessed us with technology that is intended to improve our quality of life. James assures us that "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be akin of firstfruits of all he created" (NIV James 5:17-18). Because God has blessed us with the success and benefit of modern medicine for healing, a person of faith can both pray for healing and embrace modern medicine as a means by which God gifts his people with an improved quality of life. Simply put, faith, prayer, and modern medicine are not mutually exclusive from one another: they work in tandem. 

Biblical Perspective on Mental Illness

In her memoir Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, Susannah Cahalan chronicles her experience with a rare brain disorder called anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis. She unwaveringly recounts the most intimate details of her extreme and progressive symptoms that eventually descend into madness. Prior to the final (and correct) diagnosis of her disease, Cahalan was misdiagnosed multiple times due to symptoms similar to those of other mental illnesses-- one doctor even diagnosed her as an alcoholic. At the onset of subtle symptoms of her disease, symptoms such as paranoia, depression, and emotional lability, Cahalan's family and friends believed her emotional and mental instability to be a result of an over-demanding job that eventually led to a nervous breakdown. It was not until her symptoms gradually worsened that Cahalan and her family realized she was actually sick and must seek immediate medical attention. Cahalan's subsequent diagnoses of bipolar disorder, postictal psychosis, schizoaffective disorder, etc., eventually led to her concluding diagnosis of anti-NMDA-receptor encephalitis.

Although Christian faith does not serve a primary role in Cahalan's novel, I found myself wondering, throughout my reading, what role faith might have played in her journey and experience with this disease. In a Biblical aspect, Cahalan's journey elicits many questions with regard to how Christians and the Church approach and deal with mental illness- an issue that raises much controversy and debate in a Christian setting. In the time following the suicide of Matthew Warren, the son of evangelical pastor Rick Warren, who had struggled for a time with mental illness, the Christian community was up in arms questioning whether or not Pastor Warren was fit to lead his Church community, some even blaming him for his son's death. Mental illness is an issue around which the Church sometimes tends to tiptoe. A common belief spread throughout the Christian community is that mental illness is an indicator of lack of faith, lack of repentance, or the presence of sin.

"Part of our belief system is that God changes everything, and that because Christ lives in us, everything in our hearts and minds should be fixed."
                                                                                             - Ed Stetzer

The Church often contributes to the idea that Christians are immune to mental illness, or that God will not give us over to situations that we cannot handle. Prayer, scripture, and increased communal participation in the Church are often thought of as enough to cure mental maladies. Mental illnesses are more than a consequence of weak faith or presence of sin. Mental illnesses are scientifically proven chemical imbalances in the brain. They are a physiological reality. By placing the blame of mental illnesses on those who suffer from them, we, as Christians, turn our backs on those who need us. We would not blame those with cancer or heart disease for living lives deserving of their illnesses, so why do we do the same for those with diseases that affect the brain? Living a God-honoring life filled with prayer and scripture will not treat the physical symptoms. While treatment and medicine is necessary, however, so is a community of believers who love and support individuals with mental illnesses.

In Romans 8: 22-23, Paul writes, "For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." In studying consummation as the third Biblical mountain peak, we have identified a great hope with the coming of Christ. In chapter 8 of Romans, Paul claims that with the coming of Christ, we will be released from our worldly bondage. This includes the bondage of illness and pain. We can look to consummation as a hopeful promise to the eventual eradication of all illness and pain, but, until that day comes, it is important that we identify mental illness for what it is- an illness.