Scientists Cite Better Days with Spiritual Practices

There are so many aspects of the NPR series on the brain and spirituality to discuss, I hardly know where to start. Since it is Sunday, however, I will stick with one message appropriate to the day.

If there is anything to take out of listening to the NPR series, or reading the book on which it’s based, it’s that spirituality is good for you. Being a spiritual person will make you a physically and emotionally better, happier, more complete person. This is demonstrated by the people who participated in the studies and their practices, from meditation to prayer to worship and chanting. There is no denying that we are spiritual beings as much as we are physical and intellectual ones – something that quantum physics will one day prove.

Recently my friend Norman asked me about when I “got religion.” I guess I opened myself up for that one with my last headline in which I ask, “Got God?” The process is different for everyone, but in my case it was a combination of education, experience and self-actualization.

I wish it had been an event or an epiphany that changed me overnight. Some people have those and are on the path immediately. As Bud and Betty of Bible.com often say, people in poor countries are the ones who are most open to God because they have no intellectual barriers. Some of them have absolutely nothing to lose (ego-wise) in completely committing themselves to following Jesus; hence they are capable of experiencing the miracles of God’s love immediately.

For me, it was a much more labored process. My metamorphosis was long and sometimes confused; occasionally arduous and painful. This pilgrim continued on her journey due to a combination of love and practice. It was more like learning piano than a quick conversion. I practiced through worship, prayer and reading and grew to love the results of my practice and the people who were part of it until my playing became more like music and less like noise. Also, I discovered that I was able to master myself better by following the teachings of the Bible. The spiritual “music” soothed my inner beast.

For years before that, I was subject to depressions, most often in the winter. Taking care of my son was the one thing that kept me going during those times. Antidepressants helped some, but were far from being a cure. Since I dedicated myself to God, I no longer have those periods of darkness and fatigue. Recently when I read The New York Times Magazine story on Daphne Merkin’s clinical depression, it reminded me that there are people out there who have faith in medicine and none in God and don’t even realize that they are ignoring the one thing that could be the permanent remedy to what ails them.

For all of self-help books out there to cure people's problems, few mention the spiritual cures for the sickness in people's souls. Some people find the answers through the backdoor of AA or other substance abuse programs, but many turn away from anything that requires them to take that leap of faith.

I thought it was telling that one of the comments by a listener to NPR was that because science could duplicate spiritual experience through drugs or brain stimulation that it meant that God didn't exist. Another listener responded that just because you can replicate the experience of seeing a rose in the brain, does that mean that roses don't exist?

Unwittingly, perhaps scientists some day will lead everyone to see the truth.

Got God? NPR Science Series Examines Your Brain

National Public Radio's recent 5-part series on the "Science of Spirituality" tackles the physiological and psychological aspects of the experience of faith. It's one of those expanded series that reminds me why I've always adored the station for its meaningful discussions -- like hanging out with intelligentsia with a heart.

Drawing from the latest research, compiled by author Barbara Bradley Haggerty for her new book Fingerprints of God, the first piece in the series explores the "God Chemical," or how serotonin is activated in the brain by spiritual experience.

The second piece, which is named the "God Spot" (a bit too cute for my taste) tells how the temporal lobe, where epilepsy occurs, is the seat of spirituality in the brain. The hint that past saints were all epileptics strains credulity just a tad.

The third story on "Spiritual Virtuosos" explains how deeply spiritual people "reshape" their brains through prayer or meditation, improving their concentration through frontal lobe activity, or increasing their orientation and visualization through stimulating the parietal lobe.

The fourth piece, "The Biology of Belief," is the one I heard on the radio, which set me off in search of the website. The logical fallacies spouted by scientists intrigued me. It was as though they had a score to settle for Gallileo and Bruno.

The fifth piece, "Near Death Experiences," takes on the topic that has generated so much interest in popular books, film and TV.

I'm still reading and listening to all of the pieces, so I will have lots more to say about this series. Mostly, for now, it's a thrill to see how the topic is becoming so much a part of our culture. God is not dead, despite the many popular books that argue that He should be. Not by a long shot.

'Angels and Demons' All About the Action

When I read the Dan Brown novel Angels & Demons several years ago, my main impression was that it demonized the Catholic church in fast-paced action story. The film is even more of a clockticker, trimming down the plot and history for a nonstop race to the finish.

The film, however, issues a softer critique of the Vatican, which functions in its own country, state and, some would say, world -- outside of reality. The emphasis on tradition, ritual, authority and power all combine to make it one of the most influential churches, yet in the real world it is not nearly as influential in terms of people actually living according to its rules. Catholic Italy is a prime example, where birth control is practiced widely and the birth rate has fallen so drastically that some regions are paying people to have children.

Evangelicals call it a "dead" church because the spirit is not the focus of the church, rather it's the authority of the Pope. The prime problem with this infallibility doctrine is that it makes the Pope a demi-God. Hence, Protestantism continues to grow. Still, there are many Catholic faithful, and even some growth in Third World countries.

Personally, I don't think there is a right or wrong way to worship as a Christian. My own denomination forbids speaking in tongues. However, if that is a way for someone to break through their own mental barriers and pray to God, then I see nothing wrong with it. I don't judge people for the way they worship, as long as they don't go against the teachings of Jesus.

But back to the film. Its principal protagonist, Robert Langdon (played by Tom Hanks) does not believe in God, yet he studies the history of the church and writes about its symbolism. This is in part because it was so entwined in the history of Europe during the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. This intellectual passion clearly isn't in the favor of Catholicism or Christianity. In that sense, you could call it an anti-Christian film. Very entertaining, though, and better than The Da Vinci Code. I'd say it's worth seeing for discussion purposes, too, as it touches on how science is coming closer to proving the existence of God.

Uptempo Book Gains Momentum in Hard Times

Not long ago, weighted down by the dread of knowing my father would die soon, I read a book by Brian Zahnd, a Missouri minister. Called What To Do On The Worst Day of Your Life, it examines the lowest point in the life of the biblical David and how he survived and then thrived.

While the title sounds more like a glib how-to book, the story is part inspiration, part testimony and part Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's stages of grieving -- but with a twist. The story imparts that faith can turn what seems like disaster into something that ultimately strengthens us.

The story opens as David and his army return from a battle and find that their homes in Ziklag have been destroyed, their wealth stolen, and worst of all, their families taken away to be sold into slavery. Chapter by chapter, Zahnd writes how David dealt with the situation, from weeping, to praying, to facing off with the accusers in his own camp, to pursuit and eventual success far beyond what he imagined.

Based on a sermon Zahnd gave and then self-published in a slim volume that went out of print, he was encouraged to republish it last year when hard economic times struck. After some revision, it was released this March. While the book contains some of the Christian-speak you could expect from a minister, it does deliver the message in a way that makes it fresh. I liked it so much that I gave it to my son to read.

'Soloist' Film Transcends to Evoke Divinity in All

The Soloist is one of those films that make you flinch with its reality, yet its ideas and emotional impact stay with you for days after.

The theme of the divinity in us all runs through the film like a silver thread that gleams and disappears for stretches of time until it can be seen glinting once again. Music is the bridge that connects the film's ideas.

The film tells the story of the Los Angeles Times journalist, Steve Lopez (played by Robert Downey, Jr.), and his subject, Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless man played by Jaime Foxx. A former musical prodigy who made it all the way to Julliard until he had a schizophrenic breakdown, the character intrigues Lopez, who writes about him in his city column and then becomes his friend.

Loving his mentally ill neighbor becomes a challenge, to say the least, when he tries to deal with his paranoia, lead him back into a career and help him find housing. Ayers resists his friend's help as much as he accepts it.

There was much of the "there but for the grace of God go I" feeling about the film, since Lopez is working at a company that is shedding employees in waves of lay-offs. Now journalists are not only just as good as their last story -- they're only as good as the company's stock price that quarter. My friend Valli Herman, who was laid off from there last fall, can attest to that.

The theme even continues with the homeless animals who are native to the Los Angeles area that have been displaced by housing. Raccoons pop up all over. Lopez gives up trying to get rid of them, allowing them to eat worms from his lawn.

Yes, times are tough all over, but the kicker at the end of the film is a line stating that 90,000 homeless live on the streets of Los Angeles. That's enough to fill a stadium. Even more frightening is that the numbers are increasing by the day. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, an estimated 1.5 million people will become homeless within two years due to economic problems -- not mental illness, alcoholism or drug abuse. That's a stunning figure, and one that ultimately will impact us all.

Dad's Death Returns Thoughts to Faith

One of the first things my Dad said to me when I arrived late to his hospital room was that he was worried he would “run out of gas” before I got there. My flight had been delayed an hour by a sick passenger.

I had about six hours with Dad until he slept. The next day, he was no longer coherent as the poisons from his failing liver and kidneys flooded his body. They moved him home in a hospital bed after he lost consciousness. On the fourth day after I came there, he died.

It’s been a week since I saw him breathe his last, though it seems only a day. I’m beginning to forget a few of the details, something that I have to admit is a blessing. Toward the end, he was in a lot of pain. I prayed for his peace.

On the one day that we had together, he said a lot of things he must have been thinking about. Already eight days after his last dialysis treatment, he’d been bed-bound for much of the time. He said, “Dying is boring.” He told me that he was glad that my Mom was provided for financially. He said he loved me.

His last meal was peaches and a few bites of his dinner from the hospital tray. I think he ate so he would have enough strength to talk later. The only thing he really wanted was sleep.

The day they brought him home, the hospice nurse explained what would happen as he died. How his pain levels would increase – requiring more medication – how to put the oxygen on him, and how his breathing would become congested and ragged as the liquid filled his lungs. There is nothing poetic about death.

The crucifixion of Jesus is told in such excruciating detail in the gospels because it really happened – the reality was bloody, horrifying and long. The Resurrection restored hope and joy by ensuring eternal life. Without faith, death is a dark finality, instead of a doorway to the light.