Brainiacs.

I'm a double major at Trevecca. While my primary major is worship arts, I'm also a psychology major as well. 

This semester, I'm taking Physiological Psychology, a class designed to teach about the physiological roots and causes of behaviour. Our big assignment aside from tests is a presentation on the topic of our choice related to one of the sections of the course. I chose to do mine on a book called The Brain That Changes Itself, by Norman Doidge, M.D. It was recommended by the professor, and I borrowed it from him for a few days and decided just to purchase the book myself for my library.

What I didn't expect was to be so blown away by the concept and implications of this book. As the title indicates, the subject is the ability our brains have to change and fix themselves in ways most people think is impossible, even for adults with brain damage or mental disabilities and illnesses, or the elderly. 

I won't bore you with the technical details, but it's fascinating stuff. I'm only 92 pages into the book (3 chapters), but I can't wait to keep reading.

[side note]

This is a weird phenomenon. I can't remember the last time I read something for a class that I couldn't wait to pick up again.

[end side note]

The most interesting part, to me, is the fact that things we feel are incurable mental illnesses may not all be hopeless causes. Children with learning disabilities may not necessarily have to live with those problems the rest of their lives. Getting old doesn't automatically mean you have to get mentally screwed up.

I tell you all this because I am profoundly impacted by the spiritual implications of all this.

To preface, I will say that one of my favorite quotes of all time is from the book Angels and Demons by Dan Brown: "Religion and science are not at odds. Science is simply too young to understand." 

It annoys me when people assume that because science sometimes seems to conflict with our understanding of faith, that science is bad or evil, or that God doesn't use science for His glory. I not only disagree with this, I think that God gave us intelligence to figure out things like how to create medicines that cure or treat diseases, or how to get a man on the moon, and to say that medicine isn't just as much of a miracle as a spontaneously cured sickness is pretty naive. The same goes for those who claim that things like psychology and other kinds of therapy aren't miraculous or glorifying to God. 

God created us with bodies and brains that are constantly changing, adapting, and growing. Sometimes, things go wrong with those brains and bodies. It's irresponsible not to use the knowledge and reasoning power we're graced with by our Creator to figure out how to correct these wrongs. 

And it's so important not to demean or in any way insult scientific methods of bettering our lives, health, and knowledge. There is a point where we as Christians should deal with issues such as the sanctity of life, but that's not the kind of thing I'm referring to here.

If our brain has the ability to re-write its neural pathways to overcome brain damage, I think we can safely say that God is not only creative, but really smart. Why try to put Him in a box?