Sleepy Rosie, I'm not nurse Petrie, so I don't know what her exact intentions were other than what she says. Of course, she may have a hidden agenda we know nothing about and that she has lied about - either through commission or omission.

As for having the spiritual power to intercede, perhaps. It's possible some Christians believe this, and perhaps nurse Petrie believes this to. But 1) this idea is not limited to Christianity - you'll find similar ideas among believers in many religions, and I have found it in Wicca as well, the idea that the high priest or indeed coven could alter the course of nature on behalf of themselves or others. 2) If I have understood your post correctly, you are saying that for a person to claim, or believe, they have some kind of intercessory powers with the Divine / spirit world, is a bad thing. I would argue that it is not, a priori, a bad thing. It would depend on what end that intercession was put to. If put to good, we might be glad of the intercession. For example, I doubt there is anyone here on Mudcat who would not be glad of a kindly word in our favour in the judge's ear from someone whose opinion the judge respects, before our trial if we were unfortunate enough to be in trouble with the law.


And so with nature - if someone could cure me of my physical ills through a formula of words and without any monetary cost to myself, I'd be foolish to turn it down.

But there's another issue as well. Your 'cynical take on how the conversation goes' basically implies or states that there is a kind of charlatanism at work in nurse Petrie. In your account the nurse gives normal medical attention, says a prayer, nature takes it course, the sores get better - 'lo and behold!' says nurse Petrie - 'prayer works!!'

I don't see that that was what nurse Petrie was trying to do. And supposing she was, what would be the motive? If she is a charlatan, and knows she is, and that the prayer does nothing but is humbug, what would be the point in 'converting' someone to a set of beliefs you yourself know to be bogus? If there was some monetary gain, it might be possible to explain, but there is no hint in the Petrie case that she was after money. Fame? Perhaps, but how long would her methods stand up under scrutiny before she was unmasked? The only other conclusion is that she is either sincere or mad.

Moreover, I think we would be underestimating the intelligence of the average person if we were to say that one could not discern between the normal slow process of healing and sudden inexplicable 'miraculous' cures.

BTW, my late aunt was one of those quiet Christians beavering away, she was a joy to all who knew her and one of the nicest people you could meet (though she had her small faults like all of us, she was not a saint either!). Though she was not rich in money she was a living example of charitable word and deed, and no one ever left her house hungry, thirsty or cold. Sometimes I wish I could be even just a bit more like her.

On the other hand she never hid the fact of her christianity anymore than she hid the fact that she was on her way to mass or about to say her rosary. She didn't boast about it or anything, she just regarded it as a normal everyday part of her life, as normal as waking and eating or going out to get a few logs for the fire. She would have been very surprised if anyone had told her she shouldn't mention that she was on her way into town to go to mass or whatever. She would have asked "why not?" and would have considered it as odd as hiding the fact you were on your way to pick your car up at the garage.