CREEDE HINSHAW: Religious devotion brings life, health

Over the years I have seen dozens of studies indicating that religious people are happier and healthier. These studies run the gamut from regular attendance at worship to faithfully practicing prayer. One study indicated that people who were being prayed for – even without their knowledge – got better.

I was reminded of these studies when I came across an article in the July 1 issue of the Wall Street Journal. Melvin Konner cited 10 studies in his article. The research was cross-cultural, multinational and cross-religious. If you take your faith seriously, whether Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish or Christian, the chances are you are mentally, physically and spiritually in a better place.

Mr. Konner described a 2013 study of 60 Mexican immigrants who lived in Scott County, Miss. Some were in the United States illegally, some had no health insurance, most were working at low-paying jobs and few had much of a support system. By every measurement they should have been anxious and stressed.

But the researchers, Mary Read-Wahidi and Jason DeCaro, anthropologists at the University of Alabama, drew a direct link between the well-being of these 60 people and their devotion to the Virgin of Guadalupe. Catholic Mexicans believe that in 1531 the Virgin Mary appeared to a peasant man, offering him fresh flowers in the bitter winter. That visitation was so powerful that the Mexican people have ever since expressed devotion to Mary’s visitation in Guadalupe.

The two researchers discovered that the greater the devotion displayed by these immigrants, the lower the stress in their lives. Devotion would consist of things like displaying a statue of the Virgin on the dash of their car, offering fresh flowers to her image and observing an annual festival in her honor.

This subgroup of people would normally be thought to be stressed out all the time. The threat of deportation alone would be enough to keep one in a state of depression, fear or both. But their devotion to the Virgin kept them positive and vital. Their faith improved their life. Some Protestants, uncomfortable with devotion to Mary, will cringe at this research, but it is clear that whether the devotion is to Jesus or the Virgin Mary, having a positive faith makes a huge difference.

Some Christians believe that only through Jesus can one find life, health and peace, a tenet which leads to the second article of faith that the believers of other religions cannot avail themselves a long, happy, healthy life.

Multiple studies across many cultures, however, do not bear out the exclusivity claimed by some Christians. Followers of Jesus do not have to be the only persons benefiting from healthy religious practice. Faithful devotion by adherents of many world religious brings positive benefits. For those in the Christian tradition, Bible reading, church and Sunday school attendance, and personal prayer and devotions are directly linked to a happy life. What a bonus for the person of faith.

Email columnist Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].