By Richard P. Holm, MD
 
Miracles still happen.
 
Some think that the scourge of smallpox was present around 12,000 years ago, however, we know for sure it was here 3000 years ago as it was found on the face of an Egyptian Pharaoh mummy. We know that it caused many large and devastating epidemics killing about 35 percent of infected adults and 80 percent of infected children. Even during the 20th century, smallpox still resulted in 300-500 million deaths world-wide.
 
Pictures of people suffering from this miserable viral illness show skin of face and body breaking out with dime-sized firm white or red blisters. People also commonly developed fevers, vomiting, spread of blisters into mouth and eyes, and too often came to a wretched and miserable death. If one survived, the common facial pox scars could be extremely disfiguring and sometimes affected the cornea of eyes causing blindness.
 
During the tenth century in China, someone began inoculating the fluid from a smallpox blister onto abraded skin on the arm or leg of a healthy individual, allowing for a single pox to get started in a controlled way. This worked fairly well except that the procedure made them infectious to others for a while and resulted in death to the recipient one percent of the time. Contracting smallpox killed about 35 percent of adults, so reducing the rate to one percent was an improvement. This rather dangerous process of inoculating live smallpox became popular in England during the 16 and 1700s.
 
Smallpox was given the medical term variola from Latin for spotted pimple. It had been commonly known as the red plague until in Britain during the 1600s it was called smallpox to distinguish it from great-pox or syphilis.  
 
Noting that milk maids rarely got smallpox, in 1796 British rural physician Edward Jenner found that inoculating the fluid of the milder disease cowpox provided for substantial immunity from smallpox without significant risk to the recipient and without the danger of spreading smallpox. Jenner called the cowpox inoculate “vaccine” after vacca, the Latin word for cow.
 
With a vaccination campaign lead by the World Health Organization, world-wide deaths reduced from two million per year in 1967 to none in 1977. I find it nothing short of a miracle that in those ten years, human smallpox infections were virtually eliminated from this world.  It was a miracle wrought by human intelligence, the ingenuity of creative and resourceful minds, and the scientific method.
 
It was the miracle of vaccination.
 
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By Richard P. Holm, MD
 
Nothing has touched my soul and spoken to aging with grace quite like the ancient Indian medicine wheel and the traditions that have evolved from it. From the National Library of Medicine, I learned that in the Americas, Indian tribes have multiple interpretations of the four directions, but the following prayer is my own, geriatrician’s interpretation of a version from the book Black Elk Speaks and Oyate (Nakota, Dakota, Lakota) tradition.
 
First, we get down on our knees and feel the soil, the sacred Mother Earth, bringing the world around us, the animals, plants, prairies, lakes, mountains, the environment of our planet from where all food and sustenance comes. Earth is foundation. Then we stand up on our tiptoes, and raise our arms to sacred Father Sky, the sun, stars, clouds, rain, wind, air and breath of life, light and dark; from where all energy flows and ebbs. Sky is infinity. Earth and sky, the beginning and the end.
 
Around the central campfire and within the circle, first we bow east, symbolized by red, rising sun, springtime, birth, blood, the very young; a sense of innocence, youth. May we have hope for a future with an open mind to all things new and true.
 
We bow south, symbolized by yellow, full sun, summer, sexuality, the anticipating young woman and young man; a sense of unconquerable power and invulnerability, early adulthood. May we have the courage and strength to fight for justice.
 
We bow west, symbolized by black, setting sun, an approaching dark thunderstorm, oncoming night, autumn, resignation, the reality filled community leader and medicine woman/midwife; a sense of the horrors of war and reality of loss, mature adulthood. May we have the gravity to protect freedom of choice and face vulnerability with honest eyes.
 
Finally, we bow north, symbolized by white, starry night, winter, old age, wisdom, the sagacious elder and teacher; a sense of beauty, grandchildren and the circle of life, an experienced body and mind, release from the fear of change and death. May we have insight to savor family and friendship, and the good sense to walk in another’s moccasins.
 
Inside the circle is the tree of life, where we become aware of our self, our consciousness, tribe, community, country, world, and our connection to all direction.
 
Dear Mother/Father of Earth and Sky, thank you for your blessings, the sacred hoop of life, and especially the wisdom to find release from fear of death. May our sisters and brothers of all Clans and Nations realize our sacred connection and, in harmony, savor the joy and even the sorrow of our circle of life and aging.
 
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By Richard P. Holm MD
 
I bet I hear it once a week, “It’s hell to grow old!” Of course, growing old is something we all will do, unless we die first. Alas, the future can look quite sad and depressing, especially if you think about the flab, falls, pain, blues, anxiety, thin bones, loss of libido, weakness, and memory loss that can come with aging.
 
But wait! Listen to the exciting news. Just out, there is a powerful potion that can prevent the aging process. That’s right…guaranteed to slow aging.
 
Researchers have observed how shortly after starting this terrific tonic: flab turns to muscle; falls are reduced; chronic pain and fibromyalgia seem magically lessened; depression and anxiety disappears; bones are actually strengthened; sexual function is enhanced and recharged; people experience new strength, energy, and power; and most important memory is clearly improved. What’s more, this special medication has also been shown to reduce diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and breast or colon cancer.
 
That’s not all. If you take advantage of this fabulous offer today, it will improve your appearance within weeks. Sounds too good to be true. It is scientifically proven, beyond a shadow of a doubt. And no other treatment plan comes even close. Nothing!
 
You would expect the price for this magnificent medication that brings about all these benefits to be more than the sum of one third of your income, or at least many thousands if not millions of dollars. But no! This medicine is equally available to the rich and poor alike, requiring only an extra effort on your part.
 
You could expect to work lots of extra hours each day to achieve these wonderful benefits. But no! You don’t have to work an extra two hours at the beginning or end of your workday, you don’t have to work even one extra hour.
 
Starting today we have a special opportunity. For spending only a half hour every day walking twelve blocks, yes that’s right, just twelve blocks, or whatever distance you can make in 30 minutes, you will receive most of the benefits I mentioned earlier. That’s right, only a half hour!
 
But wait, this offer only lasts for a short time. The longer you delay, the less you will get. If you start today, the benefits begin sooner and last longer.
 
That’s right…guaranteed to slow aging. Exercise is the bargain of a lifetime.
 
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By Richard P. Holm, MD
 
How do any of us cope with the catastrophes of life? Years ago, a couple faced the tragedy of an accidental death of their only young child. Even though most marriages don’t survive such an insult, this one did. Between the woman and man, there was love, forgiveness, and plenty of help from the people of their church. The people of the congregation, like the wings of a mother hen, surrounded the couple with support, comfort, and warmth.
  
Researchers found that no society has survived more than three generations without a religious foundation including belief in prayer, afterlife, and ritual. One interpretation of this data argues that religion serves the function of helping a society continue, thus implying religion endures due to survival advantage. Some critics of organized religion argue just because we have the need for a spiritual connection doesn’t mean that God exists. I contend that the opposite is true. Even though atrocities have been done in the name of religion, I am reassured of God’s presence by the fact that societies do better with a faith-based underpinning. However, I think there are other more convincing reasons than this to believe in God.
 
I am reassured of God’s presence when watching a religious based rehabilitation program successfully help men find their way back from drug or alcohol abuse. The leaders, who fill a mentor role, teach “It’s not just about you. . . it’s about loving others and loving God.” I am reassured when studying the complexity of the human heart and the way the heart muscle, valves, and arteries interact while sending blood with oxygen and nutrition to every cell in the body. I am reassured when our Hopeful Spirit Chorale sings, bringing spiritual connection to the hearts, and tears to the eyes of those listening and singing. I am reassured when a church, mosque, or synagogue full of people saying a wisdom prayer such as the Lord’s Prayer in unison, vibrates the souls of the congregation. I am reassured when watching a flock of birds or a school of fish move together and change direction as if one organism, in synchrony by some ancient and holy spirit.
 
As a medical doctor caring for people through the years, I have had to rely on science with which to help resolve health problems people face. Observing people, especially as they reach the end of their lives, I realized that often science is simply not enough. There is a deeper place where people need to go for help when the end is near. In my view, if we listen very carefully, the spiritual realm is all around. For many, this Divine Essence provides great help and meaning. We need to open our spiritual ears for that Holy Something that resides outside our scientific understanding. 
 
In one famous interview of Mother Theresa the interviewer asked her how she prays. “I listen,” was her response. “What does God say in return?” was the next question. “He listens,” was the answer.
 
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