Sometimes I
really do think truth can be stranger than fiction. And I am also convinced that the longer I
live, more I realize how little I know.
And I am decently educated. What
this means is the amount of knowledge available in our world today is
mind-blowing. And even more amazing is
the rapid growth of new knowledge. Since
so much of the new knowledge comes from the sciences, it means I get further
behind in terms of what I know.
I try to
familiarize myself with some emerging research that yields interesting or
worthwhile knowledge. But I also realize
this is like putting my finger on an elephant and assuming I know very much
about that big animal! But it is fun to
touch the elephant. At least I know
there is one!
I am slowly working
my way through a recent book, Incognito,
that basically talks about the process of how humans function. It focuses on what I would call the mind/brain
phenomenon. Now I know enough science to
know that the brain is physically in my head.
The book’s author, David Eagleman, tells us the brain is “three pounds
of the most complex material we’ve discovered in the universe.” The brain is located deep inside our head.
The mind is
the process of the brain at work. The
mind is not the same thing as the brain.
The mind is the brain at work in thinking (and maybe more!). One of the ways I like to think about the
mind is that it is the result of the brain processing all the stimuli and
chemical reactions going on in our bodies.
We know that the brain gets neurological stimulations from all over our
body and from the world out there. The
mind is the result of processing something into an understandable pattern.
And I know
the mind can play tricks on me. One of
the classic tricks comes with the story of a walk in the woods. As you turn the corner, ahead you see a big
black object on the ground. You are not
sure but that it moved. Your brain is
processing a huge amount of information: size, color, movement, etc. And then you think: bear! Your heart beats faster, the hair on your
neck bristles. And then, you laugh. It is a log!
In his book
Eagleman talks a great deal about vision.
He says a couple things that are fascinating to me. In the first place he says that we “must learn to see.” And the second thing
he tells me is that vision is not a picture of things, as they exist “out
there” in the world. Our vision is not
like the camera. In fact, our
vision---our seeing things---is constructed.
In a very real sense, I make up my world.
This is hard
to believe because I assume the way I see things is the way they are. Furthermore, I assume the way I see things is
the way others see them---at least, other normal people. I know there are nuts who do not see the
world correctly, i.e. like I do. But
they can be dismissed as not normal. And
of course, I am normal! But then, I
realize a color-blind person “normally” sees things in a way that I don’t.
This seems
like a long way from anything spiritual.
But in fact, it seems to me very close.
So much of spirituality is “how we see things.” I do think most of spirituality is a matter
of interpretation. We construct our
spirituality. For example, if I believe
in prayer, I can engage the prayer process and feel like I am beginning to
connect with God. But what are my
keys? What would make me mentally
conclude that God and I are connecting?
Let’s say
that my praying begins to center my attention.
I notice that my breathing slows, my heart “begins to feel warm,” and I
sense “Someone” is there. If I also am
religious, if I believe in God and prayer, all you are telling me makes perfect
sense. You are I are on the same
wavelength. What that means is simply
that we are constructing our view of the world in similar ways. If enough of us get together (maybe in a
church), we can feel like this is perfectly normal.
However,
someone else (like the color-blind person) perhaps will interpret the “prayer
stimuli” differently. Slower breathing
is nothing more than relaxation. That
feeling of warmth is nothing more than a sense of well-being. This person is seeing things quite
differently. And that person perhaps
claims not to be religious.
Am I worried
that spirituality seems to be a mental construction of mine? By no means!
The more I learn about how I function as a human being---how my amazing
three pound brain works and gives rise to the mental process---the more I feel
humbled and exhilarated. I come with the
ability to “see.” But the “seeing” is
learned. What I “see” is interpreted and
constructed.
Does this
mean I “make up” God? The answer is yes
and no. No, I don’t make up God in the
sense that I “make up” a God who does not really exist. In faith I affirm God does exist. But who God
is, how God works in the world…all that stuff…is “made up.” It is made up in the sense that it is my
vision of God---my way of having learned to see.
So for me God
is loving. That is my
interpretation. That is my vision of
God. And I have had experiences where I
“felt” that Divine Love. That’s how I
have learned to see.
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