Speakers explore relation of religion to health care

BANGOR – The traditions of Islam do not see a separation between science and religion, Dr. Ahmed Rahman told the 80 people who Thursday attended a workshop titled “Healing and Curing in Downeast Maine” at Husson College.

Rahman is a Muslim and the clinical director of cardiac anesthesia at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

From the washing of hands before and after prayer to the dietary restrictions that include abstaining from smoking and alcohol to prostrating themselves in prayer, the practices and rituals of Islam are a model for healthy living, he said.

“God alone is the sole arbitrator of all that exists,” Rahman said. “Health and sickness are viewed as coming from God. They are tests from Allah. God sent down disease but he also sent down treatment, so we should look for it.”

Rahman was one of six panelists that included Bangor-area clergy and health care providers. The workshop was organized by Clifton Guthrie, the Circle Professor of Religion and Humanities at Husson.

“We are here to sort out our relationship,” Guthrie told the group.

Others on the panel included Rabbi Darah Lerner of Congregation Beth El, the Reform synagogue in Bangor, and the Rev. Joshua Damon, pastor of Abundant Life Church in Bangor. They each explained how their faiths view healing.

“In Judaism, there is always a partnership between the human and God,” Lerner said. “As Jews, we have an obligation to visit the sick and care for ourselves.”

That included seeking medical care and cures, if possible, she said.

As a Christian with roots in the Pentecostal church, Damon said that his faith believes in the power of prayer.

“Jehovah has the power to heal people,” he said. “In our tradition, sickness is about more than treating the body. It’s also about treating the spirit and the soul.”

The Rev. Bob Carlson, president of Penobscot Community Health Care, the Rev. Rex Garrett, director of Chaplaincy Services at Eastern Maine Medical Center, and Dr. Susan B. Wesley of music therapy services at Acadia Hospital in Bangor spoke about the integration of the spiritual with medical treatment.

Workshop attendees were evenly divided among area clergy, health care professionals, Bangor Theological Seminary students and faculty, Husson students and a smattering of University of Maine students.

Two different themes emerged – the diversity of religious identity in northern Maine and the issue of how a religious leader fits into a heath care team in a hospital setting, Guthrie said after the meeting.

“The different beliefs and views from different religions and how they apply to health care was interesting,” said Cari Peterson, 21, of Durham, a student in the occupational therapy program at Husson.

Laurie Goulet, 21, of North Berwick is studying nursing at UMaine. She is a communicant at the Newman Center, a center for Catholic faculty, students and staff, in Orono.

“I wanted to gain a better understanding of the spiritual needs of patients and learn how I might help them get through that time of need in their lives,” she said.

What she learned from her own faith about wanting to help others and make a difference in the community led her to a career in nursing, she said.

The Rev. Justin Howard and Phil Perkins of Derek House, a faith-based residential substance abuse treatment program based at Manna Ministries in Bangor, have seen firsthand what can happen when faith and healing are interwoven in treatment programs.

Howard, 24, is the chaplain and Perkins, 38, a substance abuse counselor at the state’s few licensed faith-based recovery programs in the state.

“Because the spiritual is added to the recovery model we use,” Perkins said, “it creates a more holistic recovery. One of the best lines I’ve heard is that addiction leaves a God-sized hole and there is only one who can fill it.”

As he packed up his laptop, Guthrie said he was pleased with how the program had gone.

“I think the topic affords more opportunities for conversation,” he said. “We just dipped our toe in today.”

jharrison@bangordailynews.net

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