Why don't Priesthood blessings work?

[_Buffalo]

This thread is dredging up memories I'd rather forget, but I saw a man die, before my eyes, because a priesthood blessing was administered prior to seeking care.

H.

That's seriously messed up. And I've heard talks in sac meeting advocating just that - priesthood blessing first.

[_Yoda]

My parents are relatively old and over the seasonal period fell ill.

When speaking to my mother on the phone she explained that the missionaries had called round the previous evening to give them both a blessing. She went on to explain that she was immediately calmed and felt much better the following day and how marvellous blessings were.

I asked how dad was.

Mother explained he was feeling a bit worse.

Hmmm.....I asked if she had taken medication last night, she had. I asked if dad had, no, he hadn't.

I gently suggested that perhaps the improvement in her condition was not due to the blessing but more to do with the drugs. Well, she said, blessings work better in conjunction with medicine.

Unbelievable.

I have the ability to magically make myself fly.

However, I can only do it when I'm also on an airplane.

OK, that was funny! LOL

[_consiglieri]

I think one of the reasons Priesthood blessings "work" less and less in the Mormon Church is because we have come to believe they will "work" less and less.

At no point was this more clearly manifest than during a talk by Elder Eyring during a recent conference, when he related being called to a man's house to give him a blessing.

The man was dying of cancer and virtually bedridden, but when Elder Eyring arrived, this man was lying in his bed completely dressed for work, including a tie and coat, and even his shoes on.

Elder Eyring asked why he was dressed that way, and the man replied, "Because after you give me the blessing, I am going to get up and go to work."

The problem with this story is that this was not used as a manifestation of the dying man's faith that would be rewarded with a miraculous healing, but rather it was a laugh line.

More troubling, the people at the conference center immediately recognized it as such and dutifully chuckled.

Elder Eyring confirmed this was a laugh line by finishing the story with the seemingly inevitable fact that the man died of cancer.

I honestly don't know what message Elder Eyring was trying to convey with this story, but the point seemed clear to me, "Don't expect miraculous healings when you receive (or give) priesthood blessings or you will end up being a punch line in a general conference talk."

All the Best!

--Consiglieri