Christian physicians don’t have to look very far for an example of what to do about this.

Jesus was a healer. He touched people that would make him unclean.

Or he healed people on the Sabbath to the chagrin of his religious authorities. Time and time again throughout the gospels you find him touching people in order to heal them when such an act would violate his religious laws.

I spent part of my early ministry as a chaplain. When someone is trained to be a hospital chaplain the stated goal is to meet the spiritual needs of the patient without them knowing what the chaplain’s religious beliefs are.

The physical well-being of the patient should be the physician’s primary responsibility without judgment or imposition of a particular religious point of view. Should a doctor find that to be a dilemma she or he should refer the patient to another physician whose religious convictions do not get in the way of patient care.

I laughed out loud when I read this week’s question. Since I’ve preached and written about “Blessed are those who read the whole Bible,” it seemed something of a quandary to identify one passage or verse. I can’t.

The reality is there are many. The thousands of Bible passages about peace and poverty have shaped me in my work to stop war before it begins or seek a living wage for Americans.

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It should come as no surprise that the news media focuses on sex at a national church meeting.

Now don’t get me wrong. Sex is important. Without it none of us would be here. It is part of God’s creative plan and it is a marvelous gift the creator has bestowed on us to cherish and celebrate.

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This is why Mother Teresa is a SAINT! She lives in my SOUL!

Doubt is essential to an authentic life of faith. Several of those we call saints talk of the same kind of things we read in Mother Teresa's letters. St. John of the Cross called this time in his life as "the dark night of the soul."

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