RE-THINKING "THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS", A THREAD FROM A CHRISTIAN DOCTOR

Our self-awareness is what distinguishes humans from even our closest primate relatives.

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The hyper-evolution (yes, I do mean evolution) of our association cortex allows us to communicate through sophisticated language, problem-solve, and -- possibly, temptingly?! -- commune with a higher power.

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There is even a ‘neurotheology’ that says our parietal lobes “go dark” during deep prayer or meditation, allowing us to shirk our immediate surroundings and sense instead a universal oneness that lies outside our consciousness:

3/ https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104310443

But my point here is not to convince atheists that there is evidence for the supernatural, either deep within our minds or in an inconceivable expanse far beyond them.

Lord knows that task is beyond me.

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No, my thesis is that "thoughts and prayers" are among the highest exercises of our humanity, and they have been devalued at a time where they have seldom seemed more important to me.

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While language, in its best manifestations, allows us to express the ineffable – the centuries-durable truths about our fancies & flaws embedded in Shakespearean plays, as one secular example – it is also prone to corruption.

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We become understandably suspicious of words that, intentionally or not, do not mean what they say.

Sophistry, propaganda, doublespeak – they all make us skeptical of words’ authenticity.

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Which brings us to “thoughts and prayers”.

This is a phrase so oft-repeated during crises that it has its own Urban Dictionary definition as: “An expression of indifference to tragedy intended to seem empathetic; Hollow gestures trivializing loss.”

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https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Thoughts%20and%20prayers

Most damningly in modern American discourse it has become a hair-trigger reflex to respond with “thoughts and prayers” to news of yet another school shooting, too often without subsequent clear movement towards substantive action to better protect our children.

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But I will respectfully posit, as a doctor and a Christian, as a scientist and a believer, that thoughts and prayers are my own best way of coping with the current pandemic.

(Individual results will vary, but I find myself thinking & praying A LOT right now).

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First, regarding thought, it is truly astonishing to see how the global scientific community has mobilized against the novel threat of SARS-CoV-2.

All credit is due to the international braintrust that has been working tirelessly on this problem since December.

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While we all impatiently want diagnostic & therapeutic capabilities NOW, it still boggles the mind to see how quickly investigators were able to identify the virus, decode its protean genome, and begin translating these findings from the laboratory to the clinical setting.

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From a blank slate in December through our present in early April, empiricism has clarified much about the #coronavirus, while remaining true to its central epistemological tenet that “knowledge is tentative and probabilistic, subject to continued revision and falsification"

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Even the last 2 months have brought a staggering number of findings (credit to @RamyRahme for this remarkable infographic capturing new discoveries) wherein the landscape changes by the day:

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That said, even scientific studies can fall victim to irrational exuberance.

The French study that generated excitement, even in the White House, about the therapeutic effects of hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin was small and methodologically suspect. cc: @VPrasadMDMPH

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It deserves – as all studies do – replication of its results (not to mention proper design esp. re: censoring, and proof of clinically meaningful improvements) before we rush to embrace this doublet, or any drug/intervention for that matter, as a panacea for #Covid_19 .

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But Christians, especially of an eschatological bent, may have been more likely of late to find Revelations at the end of their Bibles rather than in scientific journals.

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While some see the mounting catastrophes as signals of the end times, there are countless other examples in history of immense disasters that, thankfully for us, were not truly apocalyptic.

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That said it should not take the breaking of the Seven Seals to mobilize those of any faith who believe in something greater than us to think about and pray for their fellow creatures.

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The thought here can manifest as selfless action:

a) practicing social distancing even at the risk of deepening one’s own sense of isolation

b) worshiping at home (I firmly believe we should NOT gather at Easter) and deriving meaning from one’s own reading of Scripture

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c) being mindful of the butterfly effect whereby the Ro of the virus predicts each infection doubling itself, with rapidly exponential impact

It is crucial to remember that we are a flock with an ethical responsibility to one another even while we rely on the Good Shepherd

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As for the prayers, well, I am no minister. But it is trendy for doctors to admit their own conflict of interest.

And, while I suspect it’s not quite a COI, I will disclose that I am the son of a preacher man ...

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... a theologian in fact, who devoted much of his career to contemplating the gap between the terrestrial and the heavenly, between cross and resurrection.

I can only imagine my father’s wry smile that his prodigal son would now write a mini-sermon (via Tweets, no less!)

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And so I will end by simply deferring to his wisdom & quoting part of his writing on the subject.

Lest you think that we sound like passive lambs being led to slaughter when we bow our heads in silent prayer, I will remind you that Christians actually strive to be lamblike.

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Amen.

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