Rod Dreher has a post about Traditional Chinese Medicine and Orthodoxy:
Did you know that there is an Orthodox Christian in Bristol (UK) who is a practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine? Henry McGrath , the Orthodox Christian Chinese herbalist, says that staying healthy, in the Taoist view, depends basically on living by these principles:
• eating & drink in moderation; • keeping regular hours, including eating; • resting properly (including the mind), especially in winter; • not being ruled by our emotions; • living a virtuous, humble life.
It's pretty easy to see how these commonsense rules line up with an observant Orthodox life. In this short essay, Henry discusses some differences between the Western way of thinking about the soul, and the traditional Chinese way -- and implications that has for using TCM in the West. If you can only read one thing from Henry's website today, though, be sure to read this essay, "Orthodox Christianity and Chinese Medicine," which I was thrilled to discover, as that's what I'm going to spend
my summer studying.
