The Healing of Persons
By
Paul Tournier
March 6, 2017
FOREWORD
Paul Tournier is no longer alive. He died in 1986 at the age of 95. And yet he lives on and will continue to live on through his grateful patients and the books he has written. Although I, the Lord’s Scribe and Storyteller, have never personally met Paul Tournier, I am one of his grateful patients. My gratitude is strong and forever. I am expressing my gratitude by suggesting others read his books. Here are two paragraphs from chapter 6, “Temperaments.” I underlined these paragraphs forty years ago. They still jump off the page and right into my heart today.
Creative imagination, calm thought, artistic production, the gentle things of life, the things of the heart and the soul have been strangled in this race to achieve and produce more and more. And humanity has no idea what to do with all its material wealth and all the products of its activity. It suffers from sterility amidst its granaries. It has looked for profits and can no longer even sell. For in a civilization in which action and technical progress have become the norm, money is king, and material return the only criterion of value.
And our mental hospitals are filled with people whose natures are artistic, gentle, and intuitive, crushed by the struggle to live, incapable of keeping up with the
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speed of the men of action, incapable of earning their living, defeated by the wounds inflicted on their sensitivity, stultified by the feelings of inferiority and social uselessness, discouraged and lacking faith in themselves.
I believe that once a person reads these words, they will want to purchase and read the whole book and also purchase other books by the same author. Several years ago I excerpted a few passages from two other books and placed the pages on our web site. These two links will take you there: Paul Tournier, MD (1891-1986) and Paul Tournier - A Place for You.
I believe with all my heart that every person has been called by God to be a doctor, whether or not he or she has ever spent a day in the great halls of learning. The desire to help, heal and rescue those in need and in pain is a part of God’s nature in us. Often that compassionate side of our nature is only aroused after a personal tragedy, a great deal of pain or adversity. Some of us may focus on people, others on animals or even struggling plants. There is a tremendous soul satisfaction just knowing we have been used as an instrument of mercy, hope, and healing in someone’s life. Whether others applaud us or we receive monetary rewards or other benefits, seems to be immaterial. Being kind and generous, patient and forgiving, has its own reward.
With this in mind, I offer Paul Tournier’s book and books to you. This is my way of passing on the legacy of his life and the benefits I have personally received. Many of us are instruments of healing by merely recommending or pointing out a healer or “The Healer.” He wears many disguises including the cover of a book. I cannot recall the name of the person who suggested I read it. Whoever you are and wherever you are, “Thank you and God bless you.” My bruised heart and tormented mind and emotions are in the process of being healed. We are all “in process of being healed.”
At some point in our life all of us are also patients and need help. Admitting that we need help is the first step towards healing. Asking for help can be humbling and difficult for some but easy for others, maybe even too easy. Allowing someone else to tell us what to do, what not to do, where to go and where not to go requires us to surrender our will to someone else. Ultimately, God needs to be that “Someone Else” for all of us. Surrendering our “selves” is not easy for ego-driven, self-willed, ambitious and proud people. I am one of those.
God has chosen to make Himself real, personal and tangible through others. That’s why there are priests, prophets and doctors. All of them are still “practicing” medicine and healing. They are not infallible, even though they may have earned the highest credentials. In choosing the best qualified healer for our body, heart, mind and soul, a “listening heart” needs to be his number one qualification. As you get acquainted with Paul Tournier, MD, you will learn that he has that “listening heart.” He is a safe doctor and has been a best friend to me for many years. Paul Tournier’s best friend is Jesus, the Great Physician. That’s why I trust him.
The book I recommend so highly was first published in French in 1940. The author is a Swiss citizen. It was translated into English and published in the United States by Harper and Row in 1965. It should be required reading for every doctor, every priest, and every patient. Help yourself to a big dose of free healing. Do read the book and make it a part of your lending library. Your rewards will be “out of this world.”
Peter Laue
Pagosa Springs, Colorado
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