“Honor a Physician with the honor due unto him for the uses which ye may have of him: for the Lord Hath Created him. For of the most High cometh healing, and he shall receive honour of the king. The skill of the physician shall lift up his head: and in the sight of great men he shall be in admiration. The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them. Was not the water made sweet with wood, that the virtue thereof might be known? And he hath given men skill, that he might be honored in his marvelous works. With such doth he heal men, and taketh away their pains. Of such doth the apothecary make a confection; and of his works there is no end; and from him is peace over all the earth, My son, in thy sickness be not negligent: but pray unto the Lord, and he will make thee whole. Leave off from sin, and order thine hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all wickedness. Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of fine flour; and make a fat offering, as not being. Then give place to the physician, for the Lord hath created him: let him not go from thee, for thou hast need of him. There is a time when in their hands there is good success. For they shall also pray unto the Lord, that he would prosper that, which they give for ease and remedy to prolong life. He that sinneth before his Maker, let him fall into the hand of the physician.” ~Ecclesiasticus
Honor The Physician
This idea may not sound too appealing these days. It was written in a time when a physician was a healer, not a vendor of drugs and surgical procedures. These ancient physicians were only interested in keeping their patients as healthy as possible, rather than keeping them chronically sick and addicted to prescription drugs. As we are currently dealing with a pandemic, and not doing a very good job of it, I thought this would be a good subject to blog about.
Asclepius
Asclepius was such a renowned physician that he was considered a god, although he was, in fact, a man. He was claimed to be the son of the Greek god Apollo and a mortal woman named Coronis. His legend grew to the point where it was claimed that he was such a great healer that he could actually bring the dead back to life. In reality, he did have a healing center where he healed many. It was also a spiritual center where he taught soul development as well. The physicians of those times knew that the care of the body alone wasn’t enough. You also had to care for the mind and the spirit to have a truly healthy person.
Hippocrates
Hippocrates is another great physician of the ancient Greek civilization and is probably better known today than any other medical doctor or healer. He is often called the “Father of Medicine,” or more accurately, the “Father of Modern Medicine”. He is best known for the Hippocratic Oath which doctors still swear to today, although it is questionable that they truly abide by it. In part, it requires physicians to promise to heal to the best of their abilities but “never with a view to injure or do harm,” which in modern versions has been simplified to “First do no harm”. Hippocrates believed in healing with nature, using herbs and diet as a major part of healing.
Medicines of the Earth
The quote says that the Lord created medicines of the Earth. It adds that the wise person will not “abhor them”. That certainly doesn’t sit well with the AMA of today. They want to promote synthetic drugs over anything natural. They are fond of telling us that herbal and other natural treatments “have not been proven effective”. That is only because the drug companies who design the testing methods and pay for the tests won’t test natural herbs and other natural products. If they did, they might find many of them are effective and without the nasty side effects of synthetic drugs. While I’m sure none of them are studying this aspect of it, I am willing to bet that most of those currently dying of the Coronavirus Covid-19 are regular users of prescription drugs, thus weakening their own natural immune system.
In Sickness, Pray
The quote also advises the sick to “pray to the Lord”. Atheists and some others will scoff at this, of course. In truth, however, some scientific studies have shown that prayer is effective at helping people heal. Whether you are praying for your own healing or asking God to heal others, it works! As might be expected, the drug-pusher medical communities scoff at such studies and claim they are all flawed. One thing I believe we can all agree upon is that even if it doesn’t help much, it certainly can’t hurt to pray for healing, so do it. The physician shouldn’t just be a professional you turn to when sick. We all need to be our own physicians at times.
