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Coma Healing?

Ezekiel 34:4
“The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up [that which was] broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.”

Pastors or clergymen are sometimes called upon to stand with saddened families by the bedside of a loved one who is in a coma. The coma is usually the result of a serious injury and some have wondered if it is really the brain’s strategy for healing itself. Now both experience and science are beginning to suggest that a coma is indeed part of the brain’s strategy to heal itself.

View from the inside of an MRI scannerResearch shows that when a person is in a coma, the brain is actively working to suppress normal conscious activity. Medical researchers say that this suggests that a coma is not the direct result of an injury but a condition that is under the control of the brain. Scans of brain activity show unusual activity in the brain centers controlling muscle activity.

These findings suggest that people who spend months or even years in a coma or vegetative state may be actually in the process of returning to health. This would explain the common stories about someone waking after months, or longer, and rapidly returning to normal.

Modern science admits that it remains largely ignorant about the human brain and how it works. In some cases, people who may have been undergoing a normal healing process have been killed by those who support euthanasia. The Bible has the best advice all the time. Only God can give life, and only He knows when it is over.

Prayer:
I pray, dear Father, that we may soon see a change in public sentiment away from so-called “mercy killing” back to Your standards. Help science to better understand the reasons why only You can make life and only You know when it is ended. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:
J. A. Miller. “Coma as a Legitimate Brain Activity.” Science News, Vol. 122, p. 310. Callista Gould. 1992. “Two Real Life ‘Awakenings’ Challenge PVs Diagnosis.” National Right to Life News, Jan., p. 34. Photo: View from the inside of an MRI scanner. Magnetic Resonance Imaging is one way of determining the cause of a coma.