I'm reminded of the stretch of postpartum depression I suffered after my oldest child was born. The first medicine I tried didn't help me. With the second medicine I saw slow improvement. I remember fretting about this with the professional treating me. What if the medicine wasn't really working and it was just the placebo effect? How would we know? The professional looked me in the eye and asked, "Does it matter?"
It only took me a moment to recall how bad things had been the month before when I could barely take care of my own needs, let alone those of an infant while working full time. Thanks to the medicine--whether true science and a balancing of my brain chemicals or mind-over-matter placebo effect--I was healing and life was once again manageable. No, it didn't matter. It didn't matter how or why I was healing. What mattered was the healing itself.
Does prayer work because God hears me and answers my prayers? Does it work because the act of praying helps calm my mind so that I can think more clearly? Does my willingness to pray coincide with a deep desire to change and is it the desire, rather than the prayers, fueling my progress? None of the above? Some? All?
Does it matter?
No. It doesn't matter to me. I'm beyond needing to know why, how, or if prayer works. All I need to know is that it works for some really awesome people in my life and I trust it will work for me, too. If, in the end, it's only a placebo effect, that's fine with me.
Of course, I don't believe it's "only" a placebo effect, but that's a post for another day. . .
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