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In the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, award-winning science writer Rebecca Skloot tells the story of Henrietta Lacks and the cells that were taken from her, grown in culture, and spread around the world in service to scientific and medical research. The book is a beautiful blending of the story of Henrietta and her family with the story of the development of the HeLa cell line and its scientific impact.

It was more than 20 years after Henrietta died of cancer that her family became aware that her cells had been harvested, grown, and were still being grown for use in scientific research. HeLa cells have played a role in finding a vaccine for polio, studying cancer, and doing genetic research to name but a few of their many contributions.

The story of how Henrietta’s family became informed about the use of her cells is quite involved itself. Sadly, the process involved a great deal of pain and stress to her family, especially for her daughter, Deborah.

At one point, Deborah is working with writer Rebecca Skloot to uncover Henrietta’s history. Deborah is struggling to process the things she is finding out about her mother, her mother’s cells, and her family. Deborah has broken out into hives from the stress. Deborah and Rebecca go to visit Deborah’s cousin, Gary, who conducts a kind of faith healing through singing and praying. Rebecca is a non-believer, and yet she tells us, “I’d been watching all this from a recliner a few feet away, dumbfounded, terrified to move or make noise, frantically scribbling notes. In any other circumstance I might have thought the whole thing was crazy. But what was happening between Gary and Deborah at that moment was the furthest thing from crazy I’d seen all day.” [page 292]

As I read this, I was reminded that in spite of all that science can do, we still need religion to help us deal with our feelings. We need the experience of transcendence when the load is difficult to bear. We need the insights of religion to illuminate our experiences and give us perspective. We need to embrace the mystery of healing wherever it may come from. Religion opens a window to the reality beyond our comprehension and gives us access to spiritual resources that are beyond rationality. Symbols, art, music, prayer, and ritual are powerful ways of engaging the depths of our lives. Religion is more than what meets the eye and can be a much needed healing force in our lives and in our world. It may even inspire us to seek greater scientific knowledge as well as medical treatments and cures. Truly faith can heal!

I was talking with someone recently about the 9/11 attacks and the killing of Osama bin Laden. The person mentioned that she thought she might feel differently about those events if she knew someone personally who was killed on 9/11. I have been thinking about that comment.

How does direct personal involvement influence our thinking, our understanding, our feelings, our values, our behavior? And, in this presidential election season we can add, our vote? It’s fine to have theoretical beliefs, values, and morals. But it is in everyday life that these become real. Ideally, our moral commitments and our behaviors are completely consistent. We are fully integrated as human beings. But, as I said, this is the ideal. In reality, we tend to be a mix of contradictions and inconsistencies.

One of the things that I think helps bring together our theoretical morals, values, and commitments and our actual behaivor is personal involvement and connection. I thought I knew some things about homelessness and that I was applying my Christian values to this issue, and then we had some homeless people come and stay at the church for 3 months. Through that direct personal connection I learned a lot more about homelessness and the people who are homeless. Through that experience, I was led to revise some of my views, especially about practical measures for reducing homelessness.

In the time of Christian origins, in the years of Jesus’ life and the decades following his crucifixion, the communities that formed around his teachings became reknowned for their broad diversity. In a society that was highly stratified by class, the Christian communities welcomed everyone and all were on equal footing. These communities were extremely diverse. People who would normally never have contact as equals were worshiping and serving, eating and praying, side by side. These uncommonly diverse communities were the context for learning, growing, and living in the spirit of Christ. Through personal experience, theoretical faith and values became concrete words and deeds. People became more integrated and whole.

Today this vision can inpsire the church to actively embrace diversity because it is through our personal experience with the “other” that we become integrated and whole. Who is the “other” in our context? Maybe someone of a different educational level or economic level. Maybe someone of a different sexual orientation or gender identity. Maybe it’s bridging the urban/rural divide; small town and big city. Maybe the differences involve ethnicity or life experience. Maybe it’s getting to know someone who is Muslim or atheist.

Our faith invites us to become whole through direct encounter with others who are different in some way. It is through this interpersonal engagement that we become more Christlike. When we embrace this vision of diverse people coming together maybe we will no longer have to fear another version of 9/11.