John Graham's blog

During Holy Week, I asked Rabbi Roy Walter, Rabbi Emeritus at Congregation El Emannuel, and a member of our Board of Trustees, to write an essay about the universal meaning of the Feast Passover for people of all faiths.  Within minutes he sent me this powerful essay saying:  "There are so many universal values captured by the story of Passover, values that help us see more clearly our relationship with God and with each other.  I share with you three: 

ISH's 1st Annual Ethics Conference was a huge success -- well attended and excellent speakers sharing some aspect of the conference theme: "Moral Dilemmas Facing Healthcare Professionals."  Richard Wainerdi, Ph.D, President Emeritus of the Texas Medical Center, gave the Keynote address, challenging all healthcare professionals to be thoughtful and diligent concerning moral and ethical issues. 

Dr. Wainerdi addressed two issues he has recognized during his tenure as President of TMC:  First is "The Ethics of Clinical Trials."  He said that clinical trials are widely accepted as an important means of advancing medical service by statistically appropriate experiments using new therapies, medicines, procedures or other innovative methods utilizing diseased patients as subjects. 

Selection of Argentina's Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th Roman Catholic Pope brings hope not only to Catholics but to people around the globe.  Pope Francis has shared how he chose the name Francis.  He says that just as it appeared the voting was going his way and it seemed "a bit dangerous" that he would be elected, his friend, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, hugged him, kissed him on the cheek, and whispered in his ear, "Don't forget the poor."  The pope says, "And that is how in my heart came the name Francis of Assisi." 

The Pope went on to say that Francis of Assisi was "The man of

Mary C. Neal, M.D. is an orthopedic surgeon and an experienced white-water kayaker who was hurled to the bottom of a river for 15-20 minutes before being pulled from the water.  During this time, she experienced angelic beings who lovingly guided her to the beauty of heaven where she learned it was not her time to die.  She returned and tells her story in her recently released book entitled, To Heaven and Back:  A Doctor's Extraordinary Account of her Death, Heaven, Angel's and Life after Death.   To see her share her amazing story, go to this site - http://www.cbn.com/tv/2125902823001.   And, to learn more of her story read further:

She writes, "One lesson I learned after I drowned on a South American river was that to face life's challenges with gratitude and joy, a person must first lose his or her faith.{C}

It was recently my joy to speak at ISH to visiting nursing students from the LoneStar College in Conroe.   They wanted to know more about the role that spirituality plays in health and healing, a subject that is exactly what ISH is all about.  I loved these students.  They were responsive and had a great teacher with them.  It was a lot of fun as you can see from this picture.  These students were only two months from graduation and what a great group of nurses they will be. 

Also, this week, I look forward to sharing the same information with another group of students from Springfield College in Houston.  It is always an honor to share with student some of the stories from my time as a physician and to enumerate the many evidence-based articles which appear in the medical literature on the subject.  It is such