Folkiedave, thanks for the clarification.

But, to put the question in another perspective -- if being told one is being prayed for can make an individual develop complications, my impression is the same back door is being opened. In other words, individual cognitive states can govern the healing experience of the organism, simply by changing the data the individual holds on to.

This is not news -- the literature on psychosomatic conditions is rich with examples, not to mention studies of placebo effects. Why should mere data held or not held by a point of view be so able to influence the biochemistry of the body?

That's the core question. That, plus the more fundamental question of "who" holds information, and what a "who" is, anyway.

A