Not a Lot of People Know That ...

Not a Lot of People Know That ...

Shaun Growney, currently doing an MA in the Psycolology of Religion, shares some of the interesting nuggets of information he is picking up on his course

Perhaps it wouldn't surprise you to know that religious people generally enjoy better health than non religious people. After all, the belief that in Jesus we have access to eternal life must take away much of the fear and worry that often accompanies illness especially in later life. And the grace we receive from prayer and the sacraments is surely powerful medicine indeed. So those who have faith are likely to be more at peace in times of adversity than those who have none, and as most doctors will confirm, a patient whose mind and body is at peace is more likely to get better than one wracked with stress and worry.

So does this mean that religious people live longer than non religious people? Well, apparently not. Various studies have been done, mainly in the USA, and although some seem to indicate a connection between religiousness and longevity, others don't and, overall, the results tend to be inconclusive. Believers, it seems, die just as early or late (and just as often!) as unbelievers.

One of the studies looking into this question was carried out from 1982 to 1985 and published in 1992 by E.L. Idler and S.V. Kasl. Although this one did seem to support a marginal positive relationship between religious participation, well being and mortality for the group of 2,812 people over 65 in 1982 who participated in the study, the data were again, not really convincing one way or the other. Then, when the researchers looked more deeply into their results they noticed something quite startling. The death rate of practicing Christians in the sample was significantly lower in the 30 days immediately before Easter than in the 30 days after!

So, it seemed that there was a connection between the important Christian religious festival of Easter and the timing of death for those who observed the festival but not for others who did not. Naturally, it struck the researchers that if this type of connection were general, then presumably the same pattern of death rates would apply to practicing Jewish people in the 30 days before and after the Jewish festivals of Passover, Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur. They checked and, as predicted, they found the same pattern! There was a significant tendancy to delay (imminent) death until after the festivals were over.

So, it looks like the Lord allows people of faith who are facing death to celebrate a forthcoming religious festival one more time before their final call and that He does this not only for us Christians but for those of other faiths too (well - Jewish people anyway - other denominations did not participate in the study). So, it would seem that He responds to the sincerity of people's hearts rather than to specific faith affiliations.

Not a lot of people know that!