SCRIPTURE: Acts 4:4 (CEB)
Many who heard the
word became believers, and their number grew to about five thousand.
STORY this report was
made on February 13, 1984 in Spokesman
Review:
The banter of the operating room may have to be toned down,
if new research on unconscious awareness in patients under total anesthesia is
borne out. Surgeons have taken their patients' oblivion as license for talking
as though the patient were not there--even making remarks that patients would
find frightening if they heard. But two research groups report that what
anesthetized patients hear can affect them. "What the patient hears--say a
remark like, 'He's a goner' --could conceivably have an adverse effect on his
recovery," says Henry Bennett, one of the researchers.
In one study, anesthetized patients heard a taped voice tell
them during surgery they should signify having heard the message by touching
their ears in a postoperative interview. Later, in the interview, the patients
tugged at their ears, although none could recall having heard the message, nor
were they particularly aware of touching their ears. Dr. Bennett, a
psychologist now at the Univ. of California Medical School at Davis, reports
that when patients were given the suggestion during surgery that one hand was
becoming warmer and the other cooler, the hands' temperature did so. This
suggests, says Bennett, inadvertent negative remarks--such as, "Holy
Moses, this is a terrible bone graft" --could interfere with recovery.
Under anesthesia, "Patients may be more vulnerable to upsetting remarks
they might hear," Bennett says. "Their normal coping techniques
aren't available, since they are drugged."
Other research involving patients undergoing back surgery
suggests possible beneficial applications. Because a common postoperative complication
of back surgery is difficulty is urinating, most patients require a catheter.
During surgery, the researchers suggested to the anesthetized patients that
they would be able to relax their pelvic muscles afterward, and so need no
catheter. None of the patients who received the suggestion subsequently needed
a catheter.
OBSERVATION:
Are we relying on subliminal messaging as a key ingredient
to our witness? That somehow, at an unconscious level, our witness will take
root in their hearts. That through a process of spiritual osmosis the truth of
Jesus Christ will be transferred from us to those who might come near to us in
the market place.
I’ve always been taken with the words in verse 4 of the 4th
chapter of Acts … “they heard the word and became believers.” Every time I
stand up to preach I believe that in my heart-of-hearts. None of us will ever
know just how many we are affecting with our message and witness, but one thing
can be said, I’m certain it isn’t five thousand. I’m not sure that I’ve shared
the Good News with a grand total of 5,000 over my lifetime. Who knows?
This one thing is completely clear – we need to be more
excited about what we believe and more forthright with sharing it!
There is a lot of chatter in the stores, at the restaurants,
at the offices, on the social media concerning the winning teams involved in
March Madness. In fact, there is more open enthusiastic discussion concerning
college basketball and who might or might not make it to the elite 8 or the
final 4 … Go, Florida! … but are we
as excited about sharing our faith … or is it subliminal time?
PRAYER:
We want to be more enthusiastic about our faith without
becoming one of those “in your face” kind of believers. Help us … please!
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