Nine years ago the retired Baptist minister lay in a hospital bed with his lungs full of fluid, colon cancer, and a bleeding ulcer. He prayed to God, and was completely healed. Sanders is the medical exception. But growing research now indicates a scientific relationship between faith and health. Studies out of The University of Texas at Austin, Marin County, Dartmouth, and Duke all point to the health benefits of devout faith, regardless of the specific religion.
Some spiritual leaders agree.
Others are skeptical. Still, where science and spirituality have been at odds throughout human history, on topics such as astrology and evolution, now the two disciplines are forming an alliance in the field of medicine. A retired cardiologist, Dr. Goggans ran the Carter Rehabilitation Center in Fort Worth for 11 years. He's believed in the mind-body connection for decades, and even attributes his own cancer survival to hypnosis and meditation. And most every form of spirituality includes meditation.