This month we celebrate the birthday of our founder, Dr. John Christopher. He was born November 25, 1909, left at an orphanage in Salt Lake City and adopted as a baby by Leander and Melissa Ann Craig Christopher. As a child he struggled with rheumatoid arthritis and contracted nearly all of the childhood diseases. In his own words, “This sickly childhood of mine gave me a desire to see better health in children, our own and others. I didn’t actually know a good healthy day throughout my childhood and, for that matter, until I was past thirty-five years old. Over the years much trial and error was used to keep me alive and in motion” (Herbal Home Health Care, p3). 

A beautiful thing about Dr. Christopher is how he used his trials to learn, grow, and then shared the lessons learned with whoever would listen, all with a deep sense of gratitude and a cheerful heart. His own trials helped him understand the intense pain and suffering of people in all walks of life. Instead of letting pain get him down, he learned, studied, healed himself, and then worked tirelessly to help others. After his practice was shut down, he said, “And what am I doing now? Trying to teach you how to take care of yourselves and your families! The time is coming when … the practitioners of medical science will throw up their hands and walk off and say, ‘There’s nothing more we can do; we are baffled!’ and then we’ll all go back to the old forms of healing – in the natural manner as the Lord intended” (School of Natural Healing 1991, pp xv).

Here at the School of Natural Healing we are grateful for Dr. Christopher’s unwavering quest to share truth with massive amounts of joy. He was a force for good and we have all been blessed by his commitment to the truth. His work lives on in every student as they learn and apply principles of natural healing. We are grateful to continue to move the work forward. Thank you, Dr. Christopher, for leaving us a legacy of truth and love. 

Tara Christopher Eyre is a Master Herbalist and Foot Zone Therapist/Practitioner. She loves helping people find and continue their path toward health.