“There should be healing of the soul and healing of the body.” Jerome Groopman, physician and writer, quoted this line from a prayer said in Jewish synagogues every Saturday.
Only recently did he ask himself why, in this prayer for healing, mention of the soul comes before the body. He now sees wisdom in this word order: “a time will come when the body will not survive but the soul can always be healed.”
Dr. Groopman made these statements in a forum held two weeks ago entitled “The Challenge of Medical Knowledge” and sponsored by Boston College and the Atlantic Monthly. This forum was the first in a series of discussions under the heading “Dialogue: Belief and Non-Belief in Modern American Culture.”
This event has taken its inspiration from a series of public conversations initiated by Cardinal Martini, the archbishop of Milan whose forums have attracted widespread attention. Underlying these latter discussions is the view that “there is in each of us – whatever our religion; even in a bishop – a believer and a non-believer.”
Dr. Groopman’s co- presenter was Sherwin Nuland, a Yale Medical School-based surgeon who is the author of “How We Die,” among other books. He calls himself an agnostic but, at the same time, he professes a spirituality that takes inspiration from human love. Though he said “I have never been able to convince myself that life has inherent meaning,” he finds rich meaning in the human spirit’s longing for love.
Unlike Dr. Groopman, Dr. Nuland professes not to be a believer in God. At the same time, however, he admits “The wonder of the power of religion has never left me.” And he resists strongly the idea that the physician is like God.
He agrees with Dr. Groopman about the need for doctors to resist “this tremendous intoxication with power.”
In Jerome Groopman’s view, “within everyone there is a divine spark.” It is this spark that makes the practice of medicine “a truly humanistic profession.” He does not feel tension between his roles as doctor and as a person of faith. Rather, he draws inspiration from his own faith even as he quotes approvingly the theologian Paul Tillich who said, “the basis of all true faith is doubt.”
Dr. Groopman also finds inspiration in the faith of his patients. Among them was a woman named Elizabeth who died of breast cancer. In her he saw “an example of abiding faith that allowed her to pass through the storm without flinching.”
The death of a boy whom he calls Matt tested his faith, however. After recovering from leukemia, this boy died from AIDs contracted from a blood transfusion. “I found myself empty over such a horrific tragedy,” Dr. Groopman confessed.
Dr. Nuland, for his part, feels vulnerable when his patients die. Though intellectually he recognizes that doctors cannot be godlike, he still says, “I always think it is my fault.” He adds, “There is no faith to help me in these situations.” But he wrestles with the moral issues around medical care, death and dying. Part of his approach is to recognize the biases in himself toward other people.
Returning to an earlier theme, Dr. Groopman stressed the limitations in the power of the physician. He thinks that physicians must be prepared to step back from power and finds this position strongly supported by the religion, notably in the writings of the rabbis who point out the dangers of egoism. Idolatry, after all, means the worship of the self.
Forum moderator Margaret Steinfels, editor of Commonweal magazine, asked about devising an “ars moriendi” (“art of dying”), reviving a medieval way of helping people prepare for death. In reply, Dr. Nuland said “We doctors must restore our pastoral role.” Instead of relying on technology for everything, doctors could begin by “accompanying”dying people when it becomes clear they cannot be cured.
In the question period audience members came forward to ask about prayer and evil.
Both physicians remain extremely skeptical about prayer at a distance. They do not think that someone else can help you by their prayers. Dr. Groopman calls prayer “a mechanism to look deeply into your heart and mind.” Dr. Nuland says it as a way to exalt the deity and to express love.
About evil, Dr. Groopman acknowledged our lack of understanding and quoted a rabbi who once said, “God exists where man lets him in.”
Richard Griffin