{"id":4760,"date":"2025-07-21T08:46:42","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T12:46:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=4760"},"modified":"2025-07-21T08:46:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T12:46:42","slug":"the-old-old-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/the-old-old-story\/","title":{"rendered":"The Old, Old Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>

When the power of magnetism was discovered in the 1700s, it simply blew people\u2019s minds.

Magnets seemed like magic.\u00a0How could ordinary-looking metals exert a mysterious force, at a distance, over other objects?

Today scientists know that all chemical interactions and life processes are, at their core, electromagnetic.

But 200 years ago, it was widely hoped that magnets might turn out to be much, much more.\u00a0Could they be the key that would finally unlock the mysteries of human healing?\u00a0

Doctors, researchers, and quacks immediately began experimenting with magnetic stones on everything from tumors to headaches to zits.

The most celebrated actor in this new drama was a German physician named Franz Anton Mesmer. He became convinced that a magnetic fluid flowed through the tissues of all animals, including human beings.\u00a0

Mesmer even gave it a name: animal magnetism<\/em>.

In our own time, \u201canimal magnetism\u201d might be mentioned in the context of a Chippendales dance performance.\u00a0But in Mesmer\u2019s day it was a serious scientific hypothesis.

Mesmer combined his passion for magnets with a strong interest in hypnotism. His clients, like the ones who appear in this print, were connected to a magnetic source and then eased into a hypnotic state.\u00a0Those experiencing such therapy were said to be \u201cmesmerized.\u201d

Were sick people healed?\u00a0

The consensus of medical historians is that the patients who believed the magnets helped them probably felt better afterwards \u2013 an illustration of the placebo effect.\u00a0

But there is no evidence Mesmer\u2019s techniques had any objective healing power, and animal magnetism as a theory has long since gone the way of the Earth-centered universe.\u00a0

The excitement about magnets illustrates a well-known pattern. New scientific discoveries often inspire \u201cmiraculous\u201d new therapies.

Early last century, radioactive particles were widely sold as cure-all\u2019s \u2013 until it was learned they caused cancer.\u00a0

Soon after, inventors peddled devices that produced radio waves \u2013 until it became clear that such waves have no effect on humans.\u00a0 It\u2019s quite possible that radio waves playing \u201cBaby Shark\u201d are passing through your body right now, but they are not likely to improve your acid reflux.\u00a0

Today consumers are hearing about so-called \u201cquantum\u201d healing techniques \u2013 primarily because they sound cutting edge, and because people haven\u2019t yet grasped that such therapies have nothing to do with quantum mechanics.

New discoveries are always fascinating.\u00a0That was the secret of Mesmer\u2019s charm.

Finally.\u00a0<\/em>The great new breakthrough has arrived \u2013 the one that will make life worth living.

But there is a deeper, richer discovery that can be reclaimed by every generation.\u00a0

What can ground our lives, and make us whole, is a Story that is older than our grandparents. And considerably older than their grandparents, too.

This should come as no surprise.

Our children want to hear the same stories again and again.\u00a0They get better with the retelling.\u00a0And most of us are fixed on a playlist of favorite songs and a handful of cherished movies that we\u2019ve seen dozens of times.\u00a0Our personal \u201cclassics\u201d never seem to get old.

Human beings seem to be hard-wired to fall in love with a transforming story or a heart-warming song, and then to savor it all their days.

Older churchgoers grew up singing a classic hymn:\u00a0Tell Me the Old, Old Story. <\/em>Its tune and lyrics may sound a bit corny to younger generations.\u00a0The last verse goes like this:

Tell me the same old story, when you have cause to fear<\/em>
That this world\u2019s empty glory is costing me too dear;<\/em>
And when the Lord\u2019s bright glory is dawning on my soul,<\/em>
Tell me the old, old story:\u00a0\u201cChrist Jesus makes thee whole.\u201d<\/em>

In a world where everything from soap to SUVs to spirituality is hawked as \u201cnew and improved,\u201d people thirst for something that never changes.

Our hearts aren\u2019t healed by the latest fads, but by reconnecting with ancient truths \u2013 like the assurance that we are loved beyond measure by a God who will never abandon us.

Ironically, it\u2019s that old, old Story that has the power to make all things new.

And that can be downright mesmerizing.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here When the power of magnetism was discovered in the 1700s, it simply blew people\u2019s minds. Magnets seemed like magic.\u00a0How could ordinary-looking metals exert a mysterious force, at a distance, over other objects? Today scientists know that all chemical interactions and life processes are, at their core, electromagnetic. But 200 years ago,… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4761,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[377,839],"class_list":["post-4760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-new-creation","tag-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4760"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4762,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760\/revisions\/4762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}