In an interview by Krista Tippett on the “Speaking of Faith” program on National Public Radio, Dr. Sherwin Nuland gave his beliefs on the interconnectedness of the human spirit and the world around us. Dr. Nuland was a former practicing surgeon, and now he teaches a course at Yale about bioethics and medical history. Dr. Nuland, in his account, gave an interesting background about his childhood and his formation into what fascinates him: the human spirit. He describes how he was raised in an orthodox Jewish family, and he fervently practiced the proper Jewish beliefs in his everyday life. After some time, especially during his teenage years, Dr. Nuland struggled with severe depression, and he could not at the time pinpoint the particular cause for his depression. However, as he matured, Dr. Nuland realized that his depression stemmed from his religious convictions and his beliefs, for, according to Dr. Nuland, were merely obsessional thinking and baseless. He claims that he did not extract the richness from his faith tradition, but he only feared the punishments as a result of his actions that were stated in his orthodox Jewish religion. He soon fell away from his faith into more of an agnostic perspective about life.
Dr. Nuland then practiced medicine as a surgeon for many years. He noticed that during the operation, particularly in an incision into the, abdomen, the movements were very erratic and spastic and the abdomen seemed to be in chaos. However, as a surgeon he knew that the abdomen was in a perfect equilibrium with nature, and he expressed a sincere respect for that equilibrium. This caused him to wonder that there must be some force acting in the body, most likely the brain, that keeps everything in that perfect balance. Dr. Nuland then began his lifelong quest to reason and to learn about that which he believes to be the balancing force in us which is the human spirit.
Dr. Nuland then described what he believes as a result of his lifelong analysis of the human spirit. He especially notes how the spirit is the balancing force that prevents us from collapsing into chaos. He said that human beings found the spirit millions of years ago and have ever since been evolving and improving the spirit into moral ethics and morality. The spirit still evolves today as we acquire new knowledge and as we continue to explore the spirit. Dr. Nuland claims that sometimes we destroy life such as in wars, but the spirit counteracts that destruction, and then we as human beings seek to obtain oneness, rhythm, and harmony in nature. He relates this counteracting with the functioning of the cell. Dr. Nuland said that the cell is a chaotic existence with multiple reactions and processes similar to that of a thunderstorm, but the cell continues to exist in harmonious relationship with nature because the cell creates counteractions to prevent disease and destruction to enter and destroy the cell.
"Healing is the intuitive art of wooing nature"
Dr. Nuland then points to the brain to figure out answers about the spirit. Through his mention of values, or pathways, in the brain, he analyzes the connections that possibly exist to the spirit. He notes that sometimes these pathways benefit or mar our existence, but as human beings we strive for beauty, and he claims the spirit can help us acquire that beauty and peaceful existence in nature. According to Nuland, the body and the spirit are not separate entities like some religions claims, but they are intrinsically intertwined and one cannot survive without the other.
Dr. Nuland’s most acclaimed book he wrote was “How We Die” which he wrote in 1994. In this book, he especially looks at the death of his grandmother. He points out that over the years, he noticed that she was not as active anymore through her absence in sewing and cleaning. Her vision deteriorated over time until she became meek. Dr. Nuland then points out to a letter he received about how a particular reader connected with this interpretation of Nuland’s grandmother’s death. As a result of this letter, he concluded that pain is universal, and pain teaches humanity about forbearance, understand, and mostly essentially love. This conclusion led him to look towards the spirit, and he reasoned that this universality of pain could be connected to the spirit’s universal existence and that love comes directly from the balancing force of the spirit.
Out of all his claims, Dr. Nuland firmly believes that religion and science must not be having a debate, but rather a conversation. He wants that separation between science and religion to heal under the common thread of the human spirit. He points to how that harmonious relationship existed with St. Thomas Aquinas, who was a scientist, a philosopher, and a theologian. Dr. Nuland’s intensive research on the human spirit definitely provides common grounds for peaceful cooperation, and hopefully one day those grounds may lead to a loving relationship between science and religion.
Resources
To listen to the whole interview, go to Speaking of Faith through National Public Radio.
