Hi,
I have been marrried for 2 years and still have
pain during intercourse. My
gynecologist did not detect any anatomical problem, except fear
for the
pain. He suggested acupuncture. Both my husband and I are Christians
and our church and Christian friends are against acupuncture.
But this solution seems to be the only one which can save my
marriage and my sex life. I don't know what to do...
Could you please tell me what you think about
using acupuncture in my case?
Thank you,
CS
CS,
First, your Church friends may know very little about acupuncture.
Attending a Church, even being saved, means the Holy Spirit does
a number of things for you, but imparting instant knowledge about
the
scientific mechanisms of acupuncture is not among them. In
fact, most Americans, regardless of faith, know little accurate
information about acupuncture. It actually works through fairly
well mapped out nervous system mechanisms, despite the traditional
metaphoric descriptions of 'qi'.
Hopefully, you are familiar with David
Jeremiah and his radio 'Turning Point' ministry. He is one
of the few Christian leaders who looked at acupuncture in depth
- and surprise, surprise, his educated statement about acupuncture
was in support of it. He explained this is in one of his nationally
broadcasted sermons.
One of my few 'beefs' with Focus
on the Family (a great ministry in other ways) is that, in
their two programs on Alternative Medicine a few years back, they
did not look for the good in alternative medicine, but picked
only the most ridiculous therapies in this vast area and made
fun of them. Maybe people really did need to hear how dumb "blue
stuff" for arthritis is, but they also need to know about
viable, effective alternative medicine solutions.
Second, working with an acupuncturist will be a process.
With mysterious health problems like yours, it does make sense
to look into alternatives, and Chinese medicine is the most reputable
and serious of them. I would suggest you find one who also works
with Chinese herbs, as these may be required to make a difference.
The process involves diagnosis according to Chinese medicine parameters,
and repeated visits - but never fear, it shouldn't be like chiropractors
who have made a bad name for their medicine by asking you to come
back once a week for eternity. You should actually heal, or reach
a point where the practitioner refers you for something else.
Third, there may be other supplements you can take under the
advice of a doctor of naturopathy,
if there is one in your area.
Fourth, regardless of how your sex problems threaten your
sex life, it should not threaten your marriage. Remember that
the husband is to sacrifice himself for the wife as Christ
did for the Church (Eph
5:25), and putting up with sex problems is not quite in the
same league as dying on the cross, is it? Your job, Biblically,
is to please
your husband - so you may have to put up with some pain -
what if medicine improved but didn't cure your problem? This is
something to confront with the advice of both your medical practitioner
and some kind of counselor. Your situtation definitely qualifies
for marriage counseling, so I would suggest you find a Christian
counselor/psychologist - and I do mean a
licensed and educated psychologist who is a Christian, not
simply a Church member who has read a book or taken a Church seminar.
The latter may not even understand some of the most basic skills
of counseling.
Overall, remember that saved Christians still have sin (1
John), and that they are fallible. My position as a Christian
acupuncturist has made it obvious to me what an abundance of fear
some Christians have - an inordinate and unbiblical fear of being
misled - certainly we are to be sober (1
Th 5:6, 5:8, 2 Ti 4:5, 1 Pe 4:7) and discerning
(Heb 5:14), we must know the theology of our faith and stick
to it, but the responsibility of one who discerns truth is to
find the truth both in the theology and what they are discerning
it from - it is the latter in which many Christians have failed.
They have not learned enough about acupuncture before dismissing
it or warning against it.
It had even become as ridiculous as the
emails I exchanged with a former-new-age minister, who refused
to acknowledge that my Masters degree, the refinement of our American
understanding of authentic Chinese medicine, and the fact that
virtually anyone can write whatever they want, however wrong,
about acupuncture on the web, might mean that his understanding
of acupuncture and Chinese medicine was wrong. He insisted that
because he'd read a few paragraphs about qi online that he knew
more about Chinese medicine than I did. That still boggles my
mind!
There is plenty about this on ChristianAcupuncture.com, so I
hope you read on - but in summary, this is a medical issue,
and you may find medical help from Chinese medicine. If not, try
naturopathy.
All the best, and blessings in His name!
Brian
Carter, MS, LAc
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