Erik Vance - Suggestible You: The Curious Science of Your Brain’s Ability to Deceive, Transform, and Heal

I N 1978 , THERE WAS A MINOR EPIDEMIC of Legionnaires disease in Southern California. It was certainly not on the scale of the 1976 outbreak that had killed 34 people and introduced the disease to the world, but it made the news regularly. Named for its discovery at an American Legion meeting in Philadelphia, its an acute form of bacterial pneumonia that causes fever and intense coughing that occasionally brings up blood. Theres no vaccine, and its potentially lethal. Among the people watching those frightening broadcasts in California one spring evening were Sandy and Dee, a young couple who were practicing Christian Scientists. Their religion taught them that God created all his children in his own perfect imageand that with prayer, you could heal yourself, your family, and even people thousands of miles away. But to harness that ability, you needed the mental discipline to overlook what the rest of the world was telling you about human disease.

Their religion had served them well until now. The news described a condition that sounded exactly like what was afflicting their one-and-a-half-year-old son, who had been looking pale and acting listless. The couple had been working with a Christian Science practitioner, or healer, who helped them pray for the child. But it didnt seem to be having any effect.

Dee, a lifelong Christian Scientist, had never doubted the power of her religion before. She had seen it heal dozens, maybe hundreds, of people and thought it was the very best care she could offer her son. Sandy, on the other hand, was a convert. A former professional baseball player, he had lost his spot on the Los Angeles Dodgers roster because of a painful shoulder injury that was miraculously cured six months later when he joined the Christian Science faith. In many ways, this made him even more devout than his wife was, even more sure that his religion was the best possible treatment for his baby.

But fear is a powerful thing, especially when it comes to your children. Today we know that Legionnaires disease is spread through the airoften through contaminated ventilation systemsand we have effective antibiotics for it. But in 1978, all anyone knew was that it struck without warning and was lethal in about 15 percent of adult cases. When Dee and Sandy saw the newscast explaining that a similar disease was infecting scores of people in their area, they panicked and feared the worst. Christian Scientists believe that fear impedes ones ability to healand, sure enough, over the course of the next day, the boys condition worsened. One night it looked as though he was passing away in their arms. His face turned ashen, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Dee, at her wits end, considered for the first time going to a hospitalusually a last resort used by Christian Scientists only in the case of injuries like broken bones. For any of us, this might seem like the logical first stepsomething any loving parent would be obliged to do. For Dee, it was a frightening prospect, but she was too terrified to pray effectively and didnt know what else to do. Unless you have lived in a community of people who place their lives in the hands of their faith, its hard to understand what it means to break from that guiding principle, to admit that what youve spent your life believing isnt working. Its even harder to understand what happened next.

Dee put her son down, went into the next room, and called her Christian Science healer yet again. Almost yelling, she gave the woman one last chance to affirm everything she believed in and had risked her sons life for. I dont know if this religion works or notbut it damn well better work now! she said, in a desperate and profound moment of doubt. Im losing my son!

The practitioner began reassuring Dee, saying, It doesnt matter whether this religion works or not. God loves your child. Over the next couple of minutes, everything changed for Dee. She let go of herself and put her trust in God. The world was transformed from a place where her son was dying and her community was helpless to save him into a world in which everything was perfect and Gods love enveloped her family like a warm, comforting blanket.