Miracles

A few years ago at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Dr. Ben Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon, was invited to share some of his views about faith and healing.

He told me and the rest of the workshop participants of a couple who brought their son to him for a surgical consultation. The boy suffered from a brain stem tumor that was deeply imbedded in the tissue. They had been told by other physicians that the tumor was inoperable, and they wanted Dr. Carson to operate and remove the tumor.

After diagnostic tests he told the parents that he could not operate because there was little chance that the operation would be successful. The tumor was positioned in such a manner that it would be difficult to remove and there was a likely chance the boy would die as a result of surgery. He was sorry but he could not undertake the surgery.

The parents, upon hearing this diagnosis, told him that it confirmed what the other physicians had said; however, they said, they were devoutly religious people, Baptists by tradition, and that they had prayed to God about what course of action should be taken. They said God had answered their prayers by leading them to him, Dr. Carson, and that he would be successful in doing the surgery and the boy would recover. They insisted that he go ahead with the surgery.

Once again he explained the difficulties of the prognosis and that he could not in good conscience undertake such surgery. He escorted them from his office with a firm denial of their request.

A week later they returned, saying that once again they had been in prayer and been assured by God that if the surgery were done by him it would be successful and the boy would be healed.

Dr. Carson shared with the group of pastors and physicians gathered for the workshop that the parent's insistence was unsettling to him. He had grown up in a Baptist family. His father served as a minister in a small Baptist church.

Carson also had been influenced strongly by his mother, Sonya, who often encouraged him when he faced difficult times with "You weren't born to be a failure, Bennie. You can do it! . . . You just ask the Lord, and He'll help you."¹

During college days and years of training to be a physician he had ignored his religious background. The excitement of science, of being an objective neurosurgeon, of being able to help people in practical direct ways with the new discoveries and techniques of modern medicine appealed to him.

But the persistence and faith of the parents finally convinced him to do the surgery. After obtaining the necessary release forms, signed by the parents in case the operation was not successful, he reluctantly did the surgery. It was difficult, but as he described it, he felt divine guidance as he cut the tissue and removed the brain-stem tumor. It had been a long time in his life since he had paid attention to God, and the experience during this operation convinced him of the miraculous power of prayer. He told us that he now regularly encourages patients to join with him in prayer before surgery.

The boy, he told us, recovered completely and last he had heard was a premedical student pursuing neurosurgery as a career.

Prayer can be powerful. Humans have struggled to understand how prayer works. The necessity and use of prayer has declined, especially with the advent of the age of enlightenment and the powerful successes of modern medicine. These include discoveries of new diagnostic techniques, and the development of new drugs and remedies for many persistent human ailments, and the insights of psychology, in treating a whole host of ailments. And currently there is a lot of interest in being able to test scientifically the efficacy of prayer in bringing about healing.

Discussion Questions:

• Do miracles occur? Have you ever observed one?



• If miracles occur, are they a natural part of God's laws for the universe or unusual exceptions?

1. Ben Carson with Cecil Murphey, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (HarperPaperbacks: New York, N.Y., 1990).