June 2005

The ways of nature

by Dr. Will Tickel

We need to exercise caution when speaking of "nature." Nature comes in two varieties. There's the nature seen in the natural or innate world as described in the dogfight or pregnancy or the production of blood cells. Then there's human nature. Anything that provides people with pleasure probably satisfies human nature. No blind studies or further research is needed for validation.

Drug therapy is a perfect fit with human nature. Sweeping, short‑lived effects with unforeseen, long‑term consequences. Instant nirvana often in the face of irresponsible living. In the book of Genesis (2:15, in fact) of the black book some spiritual types read, where Mother Nature and human nature interface, a question arises. The book reads: "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it." [1] A continual string of questions was born. When to tend or manage? When to preserve or keep? When to take domain over and when to respect the natural order, as far as we can observe and understand it? And there's the rub.

"Severed fingers do not make a hand." [2]

The moment the scientist or the philosopher, for that matter, sees something never before seen or recorded as seen, the human nature is to assume we have arrived at a new spot. The tendency then is to assume that our new level of enlightenment gives us license (power) to assume we know what's best for all and to manage accordingly. That's human nature working the garden. A flaw in that line of thinking is that we forget life is a process and "all endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time." [3]

Speaking of the innate way or nature's way of things especially when it comes to starts and stops, a recent conversation I had with an Amish patient, a cattleman, proved most enlightening. I made mention of all the sexual performance drugs on the market these days. "Guess it's America's fixation on sex and desire to remain forever young," I said. "Maybe," replied the cattleman. "Then again, maybe it's just a sign of how sick Americans are."

I was intrigued by the man's point, so I asked him to clarify it a bit. "I breed cattle and the first thing to fail, the first system that goes when an animal is sick, is the reproduction system. For that matter, our creation of hybrids often produce an animal with the characteristics or conformation [body lines] we think we want only to discover the breed will not reproduce. Nature knows what she wants to keep in this ol' world. With all the people on drugs as you tell me they are, it's no wonder the reproduction systems of humans are also failing or shutting down." Just more road kill or collateral damage from the unbridled drive of human nature to take domain over and manage the planet, I thought to myself. Something for all DCs to think about.

So what do we do? Give up? Accept that we don't know much about anything? To do so would be to neglect the first part of the reason for our creation, that of working the garden. Then there's the part about keeping or preserving the garden. But how can we possibly do that when we don't even know how nature works or, to quote Freud, "what she wants?"

@Column Head:We teach!

@Body text:Chiropractic, like rock 'n roll and slipping and checking, is here to stay. Our job, DC, is to teach people about the innate ways of nature and to do so in such a manner as to instill confidence in them about matters of health. Our approach to care needs to continue to be conservative, eliminating interference whenever and wherever we discover it. We need to stay ever mindful of the limitations of the educated mind and the tendency of human nature to be impressed or become arrogant about discoveries in our own journeys through life. We need to be wary about managing life.

Perhaps we should take a humbler role as doormen, not managers. I do this by reminding myself that "MD" means "Manager of Disease." Let's be the doormen, recognizing the vertebrae as the hinges upon which the door to health swings. It's as simple as that!

References

1. Eisenberg, Evan. "The Ecology of Eden," Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1998.

2. Quinn, Daniel, "Ishmael," Bantam, NY, 1992.

3. Albom, Mitch. "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," Hyperion, NY, 2003.

(Will Tickel, DC ‑‑ willtickel@aol.com ‑‑ is the author of two books on healing. He and his wife, Dr. Pam Tickel, are both graduates of a school that no longer calls itself a chiropractic college. The Tickels currently practice in two offices in Cincinnati, following 20 of service just outside Chicago. Will also enjoys a practice in an Amish settlement in southern Ohio. A son, Bill, and his wife, Tammy are both DCs who recently set up practice in Cincinnati. Two other sons, James and Geoff, are now students at Life College. Dr. Tickel is an internationally known speaker on "things natural.")