Psychotherapy : including the history of the use of mental influence, directly and indirectly, in healing and the principles for the application of energies derived from the mind to the treatment of disease / by James J. Walsh.
- James Joseph Walsh
- Date:
- 1912
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Psychotherapy : including the history of the use of mental influence, directly and indirectly, in healing and the principles for the application of energies derived from the mind to the treatment of disease / by James J. Walsh. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![merit or reward, but because it makes life more pleasant and by that much happier. When men and women have learned to deny themselves in their youuger years, it is not hard to stand even ])ain when they grow older, and pain is inevitable in every human life and the training to stand it is there- fore worth while. Pain borne with equanimity is lessened by one-half if not in its intensity then at least in its power to disturb, and since religion will do this it possesses an important remedial value. Here is where religion is par- ticularly valuable and the passing of it from many minds has thrown them back on themselves and left them without profound interests, so that they occupy themselves overmuch with the trivial incidents of life within them and disturb the course of many of their functions by giving exaggerated thought to them. Eeligion adds a great purpose to life and such a purpose keeps men and women to a great extent from being disturbed about trifles. Of course, it would be too bad if religion should do no more than this. This, however, is the only phase of it with which we are concerned here. We may think very strongly with Prof. Miinsterberg, that it would be quite wrong to assign to it only this place in life. He says: The meaning of religion in life is entirely too deep that it should be employed merely for the purpose of lessening the pains and aches of humanity and the dreads that are so often more imaginary than real. He insists that It cheapens religion by putting the accent of its meaning in life on personal comfort and absence of pain. He adds, If there is one power in life which ought to develop in us a conviction that pleasure is not the highest goal and that pain is not the worst evil, then it ought to be philosophy and religion. Present-day movements, however, tend to subordinate religion to this-worldli- ness rather than to other-worldliness, and by just that much they take out of religion its real significance. We are here on trial for another world is the thought that in the past strengthened men to bear all manner of ills, if not with equanimity, at least without exaggerated reaction. It has still the power to do so for all those who accept it simply and sincerely.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b23984600_0802.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
