acupuncture

I saw an acquaintance recently as she was on her way to an acupuncture treatment.  Curious, I asked if it really seemed to work.  The idea of being made well by intentionally inserting needles into one's body is a little hard to wrap my mind around.  But she insisted that it was, indeed, making a difference.  I researched to find out how acupuncture works.  It turns out that the Chinese have one theory and Western medicine has another...though there seems to be agreement that acupuncture can make a difference in pain relief, immune response and many varied maladies.  The Chinese talk about an invisible flow of energy that the body needs (pronounced "chee") and that is affected by two forces known as "yin" and "yang".  Western medicine talks about neurotransmitters and endorphins and how the needles impact the central nervous system.  After reading these ideas I still don't think anybody really knows how acupuncture works.  The gal I ran into on her way to a treatment said that one of the benefits to her was having a chance to lay perfectly still for a half hour while being treated....sort of an enforced time of being still.  I am reminded that there was another One who was pierced to make me well.  His willingness to undergo that intensely painful experience did provide an effective healing to my life in spiritual ways that are also difficult to observe and explain medically, but that are very real nevertheless.  Sometimes I need to be still for a while to appreciate the awesomeness of this "Treatment".   Isaiah 53:4Surely our griefs He Himself bore,          And our sorrows He carried;          Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,          Smitten of God, and afflicted.     5But He was pierced through for our transgressions,          He was crushed for our iniquities;          The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,          And by His scourging we are healed.   blessings, Rob Smith