A jar of miracle ... make do
“All the tales of miracles, with which the Old and New Testament are filled, are fit only for impostors to preach and fools to believe”
~ Thomas Paine
Growing up as I did with spells of Catholicism constantly cast in my general direction, the idea of miracle cures seemed … well … reasonable for a while. The film version of St. Bernadette’s escapades at Lourdes did much to solidify images of the manifestations made possible by just enough faith to draw the attention of the Man Upstairs toward the suffering of those who jumped through the right hoops and deserved to be healed.
I was probably about ten when it dawned that such concepts pretty much left anyone unhealed in the shit pile of undeserving, a concept contrary to all those warm fuzzies created through the magic of Hollywood and the smoke and mirrors of Rome, and although I will to this day still acknowledge occasional unexplainable restorations of health and the sometimes-effective wonders of modern medicine the idea of miraculous cures seem nothing but more marketing of snake oil in various flavors for the obvious benefit of those collecting the profits.
I do understand the motivation behind the desperately ill, the hopelessly condemned; when there’s nothing left to do but grasp at straws the option can seem sensible, but since none of us get out of this alive, perhaps more than a bit futile or at most a temporary reprieve.
When a miracle can be bought at a reasonable price … a trip to France, maybe, or some set amount of hours on the knees while fingering beads X number of times … it’s a viable option for passing the time. Waiting for the magic to happen isn’t a bad way to spend that eleventh-hour, unless by doing so those last bits of life are sacrificed in the process.
When, however, attempts at intervention come in a jar labeled “Utter bollox at great cost”, the evil of canned hope becomes apparent, as evidenced in this article:
A Tanzanian pastor has asked people to stop going to his remote home for a “miracle cure” after thousands flocked there, causing chaos in the surrounding area.
Rev Ambilikile “Babu” Mwasapile, 76, says he does not want any new arrivals until after Friday 1 April, to let the crowds die down.
Local media report that about 52 people have died while waiting to see him.
A BBC reporter says the queues to see him stretch for 26km (16 miles).
Belief in magic and the powers of traditional healers are widespread in Tanzania.
Some witchdoctors say that the body parts of people with albinism are effective when making magic charms, leading to the killing of dozens of albinos in recent years.
The retired Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania preacher is sick and tired of the crowds of people who are yanking loved ones out of hospitals and making the trek to his village … while dying both before and after spending time and money … as “medical experts” investigate and debate the intrinsic value of his snake oil.
Yeah, sure … this is Africa and such mumbo-jumbo is part of the culture in many areas, but it’s not the only place claptrap flies to the detriment of others.
Although Africa is presently one scene of devastation in the name of remedy, that’s only because one cornucopia of crap has been virtually wiped out in the parts of the world that insist there’s a cure in them thar hairs.
Rhino populations in Africa are facing the “worst poaching crisis for decades,” say conservationists.
Over the past three years, gangs are said to have killed more than 800 rhinos for their horns, which can fetch £22,000 per kilo on the black market.
Experts fear the rise in poaching could undermine recent efforts to stabilise black and white rhino populations.
… t is estimated that 333 rhinos were killed in South Africa alone last year, with a further 70 being shot dead so far this year.
Conservationists suspect that most of the illegally harvested rhino horn are destined for the traditional medicine markets of South-East Asia, and the growing demand and high prices are fuelling the sharp rise in poaching.
We’re not even talking hopeless desperation here, since murdering a magnificent animal seems a fair enough tradeoff for comfort:
Rhino horn is a time-honored component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). For thousands of years, TCM has credited rhino horn with the potency to cure an unusually wide array of maladies, from headaches to pus-filled boils–and even devil possession.
… Rhino horn has been an essential ingredient in traditional chinese medicine for centuries. An unfortunate proximity to China explains why the combined total of the three Asian rhino species (Javan, Sumatran, and greater one-horned rhino) is still smaller than Africa’s critically endangered black rhino population.
Despite China being a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and banning trade in rhinoceros horn and its derivatives in 1993, current rhino poaching levels suggest that the use of rhino horn continues unabated in traditional medicine markets.
According to Bernard Read’s 1931 translation of Li Shih-chen’s 1597 materia medica Pen Ts’ ao Kang Mu, rhino horn was prescribed for nearly everything: “To cure devil possession and keep away all evil spirits and miasmas. For gelsemium poisoning. To remove hallucinations and bewitching nightmares. Continuous administration lightens the body and makes one very robust. For typhoid, headache and feverish colds. For carbuncles and boils full of pus. For intermittent fevers with delirium. To expel fear and anxiety, to calm the liver and clear the vision. It is a sedative to the viscera, a tonic, antipyretic. It dissolves phlegm. It is an antidote to the evil miasma of hill streams. For infantile convulsions and dysentery. Ashed and taken with water to treat violent vomiting, food poisoning, and overdosage of poisonous drugs. For arthritis, melancholia, loss of the voice.”
Since rhino horn is made of the same stuff as fingernails … agglutinated hair … hiring nail biters to spit shards into a collection plate would make as much medical sense and perhaps save a species.
Of course, it seems our species … we furless bipedal wimps that we are … calculates our worth in profit-per-head, and it matters little if it’s grinding up albinos, raping child virgins or ridding the world of rhinos … tigers, bears, whatever … that generates income as long as someone can make a buck and others are so easily convinced to hand over their money for snake oil.
Perhaps there’s a way to turn this inborn stupidity to the advantage, however …
How about we try pushing the notion that powdered brain of greedy people will make one rich?
A collection of my short stories:
I'm in this one, too ...
And I'm in here, as well ...
Paradise Preoccupied 
Hot steamy early evening, I’m standing in the Mandragg, an ancient area too narrow for cars, here in the Med. Older people are sitting on wooden chairs in the street, fingering rosary beads following the nightly broadcast of the rosary on the AM radio. Some praying for a miracle curing sickness, some for browny-points in heaven, some for the lotto.
I’m chatting with skinny, hyper, wart nosed, 84 year old Dun Guzzep. He was an amusing old priest who lives nearby.
We both look down the street at all the chanters saying the rosary and Dun Guzzep shakes his head and says to me “Why don’t they all just get a life!”
He knew it was all about revenue and power. Old enough to reflect on time/lives wasted also.
Inborn stupidity is inborn by definition. Good luck on changing that one. I like the church bit about drinking wine though…
Too bad he didn’t share that wisdom earlier.
we’ll happily take a miracle cure any time it decides to present itself. thankfully, no living creature has to die. in the mean time, we’re going about living life to the fullest!
And that’s how it should be done, Amy!
it’s miracle enough that he is alive and cognitively intact. but we’re greedy and wouldn’t say no to more.
Yuck, I wouldn’t go that far, however, I did take green-lipped mussel one time. It smelled so bad I had to plug my nose and force it down before I gagged. Thirty bucks went into the garbage.
Putting this miserable cold virus aside, I have a miracle to report. I have not had a pharmaceutical injection for the rheumatoid disease in three whole months. I’m supposed to have it weekly. I know I’m not cured yet, but something I’m doing now is working on some level. Hopefully, the trend continues.
Speaking of greed, did you hear about the possible BP Oil manslaughter charges?
Nice to have you back, Marianne.
I did hear about that and it make sense to me. Off the hook is not where BP should be.
And how about those people who believe that if they can collect enough fetal tissue they’ll have a miracle cure for what ails them? crazy I say.
Huh?
Hehe like discussed previously every is sold on the open market, if someone is willing to pay, someone is willing to sell, however I still have faith in miracles none the less… just cause.. I see them every now and then, but more so I feel them every now and then and when a cynic like me can feel that there has to be something I would say,…. but as always, just my two cents in the collective dime 🙂
As for taking animal lives, there is no other living thing in this world that takes as many lives on a daily basis as we do for comfort
oh btw, still not been able to start yoga because… well I will write about it later… but I am gonna do something I have not done for a long long time (about october last year)… go for a nice walk with, its midnight, below freezing.. but I just feel for one… It clears my head 🙂 wanna come? 😉
Don’t think I have the wardrobe for midnight walks in Norway, but if you’ll loan me boots and a jacket … yeah, sure.
that we can take care of 🙂 it just feels great to be on a walk with someone you can have an intelligent conversation with, or for alone with good music 🙂 of course my fav in the summer with a night of 20 C and a full moon 🙂
It would be so much easier here on a beach … bare feet, no jackets and a moonlight swim in a sea of 27C.
I’m very skeptical about “miracle cures” – as is anyone with a brain. However, don’t confuse blind religious obedience and desperation with genuine faith and the possibility that miracles do happen. I am a person of faith, and I get a bit riled when I am told that what I believe in is just superstition and/or a desperate attempt to make sense of life.
I am an Episcopalian, not a Christian fundamentalist. I don’t take the bible literally. I do not seek to convert anyone else to my beliefs, but I don’t mind a good debate, if it’s civil. I have close friends who are atheist, agnostic, Jewish, Buddhist, and Southern Baptist. We don’t agree on everything but we are respectful to each other.
But anyway, speaking as a Christian, just don’t confuse real faith with religious desperation, and lump us all into one pile, please.
Lumping is not my leaning, Dee, and a tendency I find annoying. To each, her own.
hmmm you actually have an excellent point, forget my plan we will go for yours 😀 I hate the snow and the cold anyway. Though not sure about the swim :S
The water’s warm, so no worries.
its not the temperature, I just never become much of a swimmer, actually learned basic swimming last year :p
Okay, so we wallow, and you can borrow Cj’s floaties if that will help.
I’m not a believer in miracles. I don’t recall ever having witnessed one. I think your following topic on the MSG and this one are actually very closely linked, although perhaps not genetically!
Why does someone who hates the cold and snow live in Norway? A completely off-topic aside, but I do wonder because my husband suggested we move to Canada, given Australia is giving us so much grief, and I nearly had a heart attack at the thought. It has LOVELY scenery, but the concept of it being so cold the supermarkets are underground is something I just do not find too appealing.
I’ve seen a miracle or two, but that’s just a definition that seems to fit for me.
Looking forward to Bobby’s answer to your question, although I think he’ll claim circumstances. And I’m with you on Canadian weather, Robyn. Brrrrrr.
Underground supermarkets in Canada…..really? We have an underground train system in Toronto and they’ve built quite a large commercial area down under as well, but I think it has more to do with population density, convenience, tourism and money than the cold temperatures. Many parts of the US are much colder than parts of Canada. Still, I hate the cold too.
Today, the temp is 32F or 0C, cloudy and I think it’s going to rain. I’d prefer 30C and sunny with a beach. When I win the lottery I’m coming to Seychelles, but first I think I should buy a ticket. Save room for me too. Hahahahaha!
Always room for you, Marianne. Bring tequila!
Whoooo hooooo! Party’s on! Fantastic! Can’t wait!
@Sandra: Oh ha ha! I do not need to borrow floaties… I have my own lol.. j/k
@Oyeniyi: Well in the simplest form Sandra is right, I am born in Norway and I do aspire to have a home in warmer climate, well to be more specific I have my heart set on Cali 🙂 Got thing for the states.
BUT there are others things to when it comes to Norway, except the minus degrees there really are no extreme weathers that happen in a few places with floods, twisters, quakes and so on.
The living standard is quiet well in Norway to, so I would love to be living in American on a Norwegian wage 🙂
Why have you got a “thing” for the states? Have you been there? Tahiti – now that is where I have a “thing” for – or maybe Vanuatu or Fiji. Cali is WAY expensive and the state is actually almost broke!
OK – it is warm most of the time, I’ll give you that!
Having lived the bulk of my life in California, I can say I’ll be quite pleased to never have to live there again …
Sandra, the USA is still seen as “the land of opportunity” or something for those who have never been there. For those who have…… hmmmmmmmmm is all I will say.
I’ve never lived there, but visited both personally and professionally four times.
Yes I have been there a couple of times, not to cali though, I just kinda feel at home, no idea why though, could be all the entertainment I watch :p
mmmm waaaaaaarrrmmmmm
Hehe I guess we are all searching for something “better” Dear Sandy from what had/have, you feel the the same about cali as kinda do about Norway, though I would never be completely done with it no matter where I move. But may just as well be because of my nostalgic personality
@Oyenia: ~smiles~ are you hmmmmmmmm’ing at me? why? I have been there I liked it 🙂 I can understand the land of oppotunitys thing, but that really dose not come into play when it comes to me, well not yet anyway….
Where do you live?
Robyn is in Australia …