Monday, May 28, 2012

Hildegarde in my book - and in the news!

I finished the book, God's Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Journey to the Heart of Medicine, by Victoria Sweet, just in time to be surprised and delighted to hear that soon Hildegarde of Bingen will become an official saint and a doctor of the Church. In her book, an account of Laguna Honda, the USA's last "almshouse" for the poor and destitute in San Francisco, Dr. Sweet, who was one of the medical staff at Laguna Honda, talks about her study of the benefits of "slow medicine" as practiced by medieval healers, such as Hildegarde. She even relates how she used a method of treatment she learned by reading about Hildegarde to heal a woman whose decades of drug abuse had resulted in a complicated health crisis that defeated other doctors.

Slow medicine counts on the use of "Dr. Quiet, Dr. Diet, and Dr. Merryman" - treatment that stresses peace, nutritious and delicious food, comfort and joy - all this over pharmaceuticals, surgeries, and quick release from hospitalization. Health care is moving away from slow medicine, and we will be the poorer and sicker for it.

Hildegarde of Bingen has long been one of my heroes. I love to quote her, " All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all shall be exceedingly well."