"Just out of curiosity, did your dad immediately go to the emergency room to see if the ulcer had indeed vanished? I remember reading books on hypnotism as kid (during elementary school I had a major fascination with the topic and swallowed everything the local library had on the topic), and one of the anecdotes in one book was how some children could undergo major dental work without anesthesia simply by visualizing a "switch" that controls the pain and turning it off, in their mind. (yes this is anecdotal evidence, I guess, but the text in question was written by a hypnotherapist for fellow practitioners IIRC, so I'll assume it's a fairly reputable source.)
I suspect what occured was a similar event that removed the pain of the ulcer in the short term, and the power of suggestion reduced his stress level in the long term enough that the ulcer disappeared. In a way, I guess you could say the faith healer *did* heal your dad!"
No, my dad actually hates going to docters and such. It never hurt again... He has had other stress related problems since then but not stomach/ulcer problems. Not denying it could have been just a coincidence. Just seems unlikely, thats why the story is special. To me at least...
"Just out of curiosity, did you anticipate that something holy/special would happen when the pastor laid his hands on you?
The human mind is quite surprising; this sounds similar to feelings I've read of people experiencing during a really good massage (!) or meditation, though minus the laughing. (apparently some people can orgasm during meditation, without any 'stimulation' that you'd think of... though that's a topic for another thread!)"
Its hard to explain the feeling... After it happened I read about a few pastors who would start laughing and get the feeling ... and not be able to stop for hours. Of course not wanting to stop... Its silently explained as somewhat of a gift from god... For those willing to accept it. Thats what i believe anyhow...