How My Journey Began
This is an excerpt from the introduction of The GOD Prescription by Dr. Avery Jackson, III. Learn more about the book here.
When I was a young boy, my family did not attend church regularly, but I knew that God existed and that He loved us. My maternal grandmother, whom I loved very much, had several strokes. I prayed, “God, please show me how I can help people like her.”
When I was eight, God told me, “You are going to be a neurosurgeon.” I didn’t hear an audible voice. Instead, I heard Him clearly in my spirit, just as we hear from God when we read His Word or receive direction from the Holy Spirit.
“I don’t know what a neurosurgeon is,” I replied. “But God, I know Your voice, so I’m going to trust You. I will do it.”
“I’m going to be a neurosurgeon!” I announced to my teachers, whose reaction was a patronizing nod. Despite that lack of encouragement, however, God had created me to become a neurosurgeon so I could help people. In 1975, I answered that call. That was the year Dr. Herbert Benson discovered “white coat hypertension,” the phenomenon of increased blood pressure when one is in the presence of a physician wearing a white coat (see chapter 3). I do not believe the timing of Dr. Benson’s discovery (and the ensuing increased understanding of the role of emotions in physical health), just when God was calling me to neurosurgery, was coincidental.
Since then, I have had the urge to pray about this topic, take notes, make observations, and research it. As a Christian, I want to come up with answers and algorithms that can help humanity and address some of the social ills we face. Also, as a physician and as a surgeon, I am fascinated by the physiologic manifestation of illness and disease resulting from a lack of emotional and spiritual well-being.
The training and education took forty years, but now I also have experience in neurosurgery and neuroscience to help me articulate these thoughts and to explain some of what we are seeing today.
On March 22, 2015, I was at a church service, and my pastor, Bishop Keith A. Butler, was praying. The Lord told him to tell me, “This is what you’re going to do: you will be using your hands to help people who have diseases that are considered incurable, and I will use you to help and bless a lot of people.”
I will tell you, I take human life very seriously.
God put me on Earth to be a neurosurgeon and to help people. The neurosurgery I do, in and of itself, is a means to an end, not the end itself. It might be a means to our having these conversations and to making a difference in people’s lives in ways beyond those that medication or surgery suggests. Understanding the emotional and spiritual basis of disease and illness will enable me to have a greater impact on people, both individually and socially.
My prayer is not only that we will continue to improve our medical management, best practices, and treatment and perform surgeries as needed, but also that we will have a smaller pool of such patients because they will be their own psychological and spiritual surgeons. I hope I can be a catalyst to help open minds and hearts to life-changing thoughts and emotions. This will, in turn, have physiologic ramifications, which will decrease or mitigate the risk of infection, cancer, and autoimmune states. By taking control of your thoughts and your emotions, you can prevent disease and illness. People who understand that they are tri-part beings and acknowledge and support their physical, mental, and spiritual well-being are healthier, overall.
“The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, but as they go on their way they are suffocated with the anxieties and riches and pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.” (Luke 8:14, AMP)
Improving healthy inter- and intrapersonal relationships is the essence of creating and maintaining the right balance that lets us thrive without experiencing recurrent health issues. This conversation has far-reaching health implications, and it begins and ends with God-given choice!
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, you shall choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.” (Deut. 30:19, AMP)