Dale Matthews and the Faith Factor in Hickory, NC

The notice in the Charlotte Observer said that Dr. Dale Matthews would hold a community seminar on spiritual and medical healing. Instead, he presented a basic powerpoint series of words, statistics, data and acrimonious acronyms demonstrating that religion was effective in improving the health of church participants. Then he said that wasn't what he was saying, but then he continued saying that religion was effective in improving the health of church participants for the next hour. While one of the “slides” did try to differentiate between Religion and Spirituality, it seemed that Religion was the thing that made Spirituality work. He also presented a “slide” showing that religion sometimes had its downside, including cults and wars, and then that amazingly important issue was just dropped. Perhaps just as well because that would be hard to use in building spiritual and/or medical health. No matter, little time was spent on that, and we returned to facts and figures about spirit/religion/faith/church. Dr. Matthews did make one comment about politics by saying he wasn’t going to say anything about politics, and added “Don’t anybody get me started talking about ‘Obamacare’!” Then, having said that about one of the main issues in America today, he went on with his figures and acronmania.

Nothing was said about integrating spiritual practices and studies into an overall program of health care. He did say at one point, about an hour and a half into his presentation, that everybody in the room was now one and a half hours nearer to their death that when he began speaking. Perhaps there is a better way to tell everybody that what you do just doesn't matter, but this is a real contender. Heads bobbed up and down all throughout the hall. I guess The Faith Factor only pays off after you die. No comment was made about the incorporation of physical exercise into a personal health program, and the lunch served at “half-time” portended there would be no references to nutrition either. Within the framework of the many comments Dr. Matthews made about college football games, I left his presentation at “half-time”. Perhaps he recovered in the afternoon session but as anyone involved in the practice of life knows, you HAVE to make your best presentation early, get the reader “hooked”, and come out with your best stuff right off the bat. Then you can’t get rid of people, they will follow you around and beg for more.