Anatomy of the Soul

Notes and highlights for

Anatomy of the Soul: Surprising Connections between Neuroscience and Spiritual Practices That Can Transform Your Life and Relationships

Thompson M.D., Curt

Introduction

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I knew the facts without feeling any emotion . I decided it was time to wade into that sea of feelings and hoped that this excursion would somehow help save me .

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In other words , her timidity and caution became the default neurological firing pattern that shaped her mind .

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I believe our lives will be abundant , joyful , and peaceful only to the degree that we are engaged , known , and understood by one another .

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I also believe we cannot separate what we do with our brains and our relationships from what we do with God . God has designed our minds , part of his good creation , to invite us into a deeper , more secure , more courageous relationship with him and with one another .

Chapter 1: Neuroscience: A Window into the Mind

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Although conversations in her home were intellectually stimulating , they rarely , if ever , wandered into the realm of emotion or what members of her family were feeling .

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Yet it is only when we are known that we are positioned to become conduits of love .

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And it is love that transforms our minds , makes forgiveness possible , and weaves a community of disparate people into the tapestry of God’s family .

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Awareness of these functions of our minds leads to greater intimacy with God , friends , and enemies .

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In order to fully engage our relationship with God , it is most helpful to be fully aware of the patterns by which we have attached to our primary caregivers .

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And what does it mean to have the mind of Christ ? I propose that it includes having a fully integrated mind — what the Bible calls “ an undivided heart ” — which draws us closer to and makes us more like Jesus . When we pay attention to disparate aspects of our minds that we sometimes ( even often ) ignore , we become more like him .

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One way to comprehend the dynamic of sin is to see it as a matter of choosing to be mindless rather than mindful , which ultimately leads to our minds becoming dis - integrated .

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( I use the term dis - integrated throughout the book to refer , not to something that is decaying or falling apart , but to the opposite of integration , particularly between various parts of the brain . )

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And one very important element that makes us uniquely human is the brain / mind matrix .

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Siegel calls this integrated model for understanding the mind interpersonal neurobiology .

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This term expresses the reality that the mind is ultimately a dynamic , mysterious confluence of the brain and experience , with many aspects of it deeply connected ( or potentially so ) in ways that often go unnoticed .

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Think how Jesus ’ self - awareness ( albeit not as a neuroscientist ) enabled him to bridge the deep cultural and gender chasm that separated them .

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We will see how interpersonal neurobiology ( part of God’s creation ) points us to justice and mercy , two fundamental themes to which Scripture calls us .

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God’s Kingdom is one of justice and mercy that he intends to proliferate to the uttermost parts of the earth , enveloping all aspects of life .

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Trust in what they feel , understanding that those feelings stem from a cacophony of voices whose chorus speaks for their minds , communicating its desire to speak truly with them .

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When I know that I know something because I can logically prove it , I step away from trust . When I no longer trust , I am no longer open to being known , to relationship , to love .

Chapter 2: As We Are Known

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Knowing , as Jeremy discovered , brings power and influence .

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Ultimately , then , knowledge alone does not satisfy . What does satisfy is being known .

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The process of being known is the vessel in which our lives are kneaded and molded , lanced and sutured , confronted and comforted , bringing God’s new creation closer to its fullness in preparation for the return of the King .

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Like him , all of us at some point discover that our theology , even if it is neatly packaged , doesn’t on its own keep us from losing our tempers with our children or becoming rigid and self - righteous during the conflicts we have with our spouses , our coworkers , or our children’s teachers .

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Our Christian faith seems to be mostly a cognitive assent to a series of rational beliefs that don’t seem to help us resolve our family conflicts , our struggles with sexuality , our sense of isolation , or our ongoing burden of shame and guilt .

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We tend to place a great deal of emphasis on the ways and the degree to which we know God ( or know things about God ) rather than to the degree we are being known by God .

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We have failed to see that this need to be right , to be rationally orderly and correct , subtly but effectively prevents us from the experience of being known , of loving and being loved , which is the highest call of humanity .

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Is this true?

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but God as we believe him to be — in control and invulnerable — not God as Scripture describes him to be : risk - taking and able to be hurt badly .

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Is this true

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If you allow yourself to be known by God , you invite a different and frankly more terrifying experience . You are now in a position of vulnerability . If you permit others to know you , they can make their own assessment of your worth . They can react to you . You give them power to be affected by you and in so doing to affect you . You grant them the option to love you or to reject you . In essence , you must — must — trust another with yourself .

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However , I will argue that it is only through this process of being known that you come to know yourself and learn how to know others . There is no other way .

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To be known means that you allow your shame and guilt to be exposed — in order for them to be healed .

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You cannot know God if you do not experience being known by him . The degree to which you know God is directly reflected in your experience of being known by him . And the degree that you are known by him will be reflected in the way in which you are known by other people . In other words , your relationship with God is a direct reflection of the depth of your relationship with others .

Chapter 3: Love the Lord Your God with All Your . . . Mind

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1 . The mind is embodied , which means it is housed in your physical self and depends on your body to function .

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2 . Not only is the mind embodied , it is also relational .

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The human brain is composed of approximately 100 billion neurons , or brain cells . These cells come in different forms and serve different purposes , but their general way of functioning is similar . They communicate with each other biochemically at points of connection called synapses .

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When such analysis is the dominant mode by which we encounter other people or God , however , joy becomes merely a defined concept . Love is something we know about but do not know .

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However , the right mode of operation enables us to open ourselves to be touched by God and known by him in such a way as to become living expressions of love . The integration of the left and right systems is required to experience being known by someone else .

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The brain’s neurons and synapses require lengthy periods to integrate in ways that provide for the multiple functions they will eventually carry out .

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In both infancy and adolescence , neural networks are forming and re - forming almost daily .

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The fact that you would feel one thing one minute and something categorically different the next is as much about your neurons as it is about your friends or your parents .

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If you did not have parents who understood this , you may recall how difficult it was to get along with them . When parents are aware and accepting of these changes , they are better able to navigate these times with flexibility and patience .

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This neuroplasticity can be enhanced and facilitated by our intentional behavior .

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Siegel provides the helpful acronym SNAG to refer to the process by which we “ stimulate neuronal activation and growth . ”

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three activities that will enhance the likelihood of this growth and activation : Aerobic activity . Engaging in this form of exercise for at least forty - five minutes per day , at least five days per week , is good for the heart and the mind .

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Focused attention exercises . Practicing certain activities , such as centering prayer , can help you learn to purposely focus your attention where needed .

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Novel learning experiences . Any learning that expands your meaningful level of creativity , such as learning a foreign language , to play an instrument , or to build furniture , encourages neuroplasticity .

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But what happens when we begin to consider that we can change the way our brains are wired ? Perhaps it can point us to what God is up to when he invites us to love him and give us hope that the tools he’s built inside each one of us can help us move toward lasting change .

Chapter 4: Are You Paying Attention?

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Furthermore , we recognize that there tends to be a continuum between our voluntary and involuntary ways of attending to things .

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what is difficult to contemplate is just how much we are not paying attention to , especially spiritually .

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Was George aware of how God was affected by him ?

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Ask Joey about this

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He was not aware of the activity of his brain stem and limbic circuitry or their influence on his behavior .

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Moreover , ignoring these aspects of his brain’s function resulted in his missing ways that God was attempting to capture his attention . Ignoring his brain was the equivalent of ignoring God .

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Unfortunately , we are often not aware of the ways we are not aware .

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The more George paid attention to the functions of his brain , the more he began to hear God in ways he had never heard him before .

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???

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In other words , God built in us the ability to pay attention to what we pay attention to , which creates space for us to hear him ; and out of this flows abundant life — testing and approving God’s good , pleasing , and whole will .

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Goodness , pleasure , wholeness — they all begin with paying attention to what we are paying attention to .

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“ If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes , if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees , I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians , for I am the LORD , who heals you ” ( Exodus 15 : 26 , italics mine ) .

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In the remainder of this book , we will explore various functions of the mind that are affected by the degree to which we are paying attention .

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HOW TO PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU’RE PAYING ATTENTION TO

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three major streams that provide structure and support for those disciplines .

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They include study of ( especially , but not limited to ) the Bible ; prayer ; and community .

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Simply put , these three dimensions of living facilitate vital changes in the stories of those people who hunger and thirst for righteousness .

Chapter 5: Remembering the Future

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vital function of attention — the ignition key of our minds .

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Research in marriage and family therapy suggests that approximately 80 percent of the emotional conflict between couples is rooted in events that predate the couple knowing each other .

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No , I am only pointing out that in order for your experiences to change , you must first change what you are doing .

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Despite the fact that you cannot turn back the clock and change the actual events of your life , you can change your experience of what you remember and so change your memory .

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Humans ’ ability to tell stories , which distinguishes us from all other living creatures , is a crucial part of how our minds connect us to God and others .

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As this example illustrates , our memories are not static things that sit inertly in the safe - deposit box of our minds .

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Your brain activity , however , is taking place only in the present moment . There is no “ past ” as such inherent in this activity . This is important , given how much weight many people give to what they perceive as the past , as if it were an objective reality apart from what their brains are constructing in the present moment .

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So while you may have viewed the events of your life story as if they were irrevocably chiseled in granite , you have more power than you thought .

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If , when you feel sad , you see a look of compassion rather than impatience or disgust , your right brain will register that response as something novel and likely respond with a different output of its own . Such a dramatic shift in your right - brain processing is necessary for such an association to change , and it is possible only when your right brain encounters another right brain . That is why cultivating deep , emotionally intimate friendships ; engaging in psychotherapy ; or meeting with a spiritual director can be so beneficial .

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To love God with all of our mind is to engage our entire memory , not limited parts of it . To love God means not being limited to logical sequences of systematic theology . Loving God is autobiographical .

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For forgiveness to be established within you so that it flows as effortlessly as your breathing , you need to have some mental model of what forgiveness feels like in your memory . Otherwise , your life will feel dry as dust even if your theology is razor sharp .

Chapter 6: Emotion: The Experience of God

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That’s because emotion is the very energy around which the brain organizes itself .

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The first stage in this progression is called initial orientation . This refers to the orienting process that occurs when your attention is drawn to a stimulus .

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Emotion is something that you regulate and that regulates you .

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Emotional states are not influenced or created in isolation .

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Emotion is not debatable .

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Here again I will point out that it is through the brain’s medium of emotion that God most frequently addresses us .

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While categorical emotions are universal across time , cultures , and gender , primary emotion does not always present itself in the same way .

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When you witness an expression of primary emotion in someone else ( whether a facial expression , a sigh , a tone of voice ) , that response may mean something very different to you than it does to the one who is expressing it . This can lead to all sorts of interpersonal disconnection .

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She was having the experience of what Dan Siegel describes as feeling felt .

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Notice that for Erin to come to a place of greater “ integration , ” both our brains must work in concert . From two minds emerges a process that leaves her feeling more connected and coherent , less alone , and most important , less fearful of being present with the emotions she has just experienced .

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That I felt what Erin felt indicates that my feelings and actions were contingent upon , or influenced by and dependent on , her own feelings and behaviors . This required that I first attune to her . This is another important aspect of emotion . Our fluctuations in energy are highly influenced by the fluctuations in other people’s minds . Our brains tend to look for and influence each other , even when we are not paying attention . Our right hemispheres tend to capture and respond to nonverbal stimuli that originate from the right hemispheres of others ’ brains , often without us even noticing .

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This connection can be both good and not so good . It is what marketing and advertising executives count on . They count on our not paying attention to how their nonverbal ( as well as verbal ) stimuli are shaping us .

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The fact that the brain responds in such an interdependent , contingent manner reminds us that there is no such thing as a true individual . Each of us is influenced , whether we are aware of it or not , by the contingent emotional experience of others around us .

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Our brains develop , and as such so do our communities , relative to our level of attunement to the emotion that moves within and between us .

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Thus it is no surprise that the whole of Scripture points to the idea that God is not first and foremost intending to save us as individuals . His desire is to redeem the entire world , and we as a body of people , inextricably connected by emotion are being saved in the process .

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To live in the way of love requires that I pay attention to the fact that my mind , through the process of emotion , longs to be connected to others .

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Paul as much as says this in his letters to the churches at Corinth and Colossae , as we will see in later chapters .

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Thus , what we are learning about the brain in terms of emotional attunement and contingency points to what the Hebrews and followers of Jesus have believed for over three thousand years .

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While we often miss cues about others ’ emotional states , we generally pay even less attention to our emotional response to God and his response to us .

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Notice that God’s action came in response to Moses ’ movement . God certainly appears to have taken initiative in this story , but he did not overwhelm Moses . God’s engagement was contingent upon Moses ’ emotional / behavioral , or mind / body state .

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God attunes to us and feels and acts contingently .

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Support with scripture

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We influence him through our emotional states . Certainly through Scripture we see that God feels joy , hurt , surprise , delight , grief , anger , distance , and a multitude of other things in response to us . Our problem is that often we do not take ourselves seriously enough to believe we have that much influence on the One who created the universe .

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From a perspective of neuroscience , this notion of “ heart ” would largely be a subject of ( but not only of ) emotion .

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The prophet outflanks the logical , linear Maginot line in David’s brain with his tale of a rich man who steals the lone lamb of a poor man .

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As we have seen , the power of storytelling goes beyond the border of the story itself . It moves into the nooks and crannies of our memories and emotions , sometimes gently , sometimes explosively , revealing , awakening , shocking , calling . This is what happens to David , and his heart is revealed . He is caught off guard when the story brings his right hemisphere to life unexpectedly .

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He speaks about what he has done to God . Hurt God . Saddened God . Betrayed God . He is broken in the realm in which he most intimately and primitively experiences God — his emotion . He puts into words what his heart feels God feeling in the wake of his actions .

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David’s heart — his emotion — even in his guilt and shame , appears to be fully engaged with God’s heart — God’s emotion .

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The conduit by which David was most primally and fundamentally connected to God was emotion . David did not repent in response to a logical argument . The desire to repent was first and foremost just that — desire .

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I recognize that my reflections on this interchange contain a fair amount of speculation .

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David does not write God a letter of prose . He does not dictate a theological treatise on adultery and the proper place of confession and absolution . He does not mechanically utter some prefabricated prayer . Instead , he writes poetry . He stands up to his full emotional height , and in this psalm accomplishes the integration of the right and left hemispheres of his brain . This is what poetry does .

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From the perspective of neuroscience , this book is in the perfect symbolic position , pointing to the full integration of the mind as we bring together both language ( left hemisphere ) and emotional states ( right hemisphere ) in the beauty of poetry .

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As David’s experience illustrates , what you do with emotion shapes the communities in which you live , be they your immediate family , church , neighborhood , or school . It is emotion that initiates the revelation that you have sinned and have been sinned against .

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It is emotion that moves you to confession and repentance . It is fundamentally only in response to emotion that a spouse or friend will be open to the invitation for change . Emotion is the part of creation that God uses to get your attention and to create the family he so longs to come to full maturity . It is certainly not the only thing God uses . But it seems to be the place he starts , from the perspective of the brain .

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The more you pay attention to primary and categorical emotional states , the more you see that most of life is about responding to shifts in emotional states either from other minds ( your spouse , your boss , your pastor ) or from your own .

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Furthermore , the more attentive you are to emotional states and the more you actively reflect on them and talk about them with a trusted friend , spiritual mentor , or psychotherapist , the more you will literally integrate the neural circuitry of your brain .

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As we’ve discovered in earlier chapters , though , reading Scripture and paying attention to , writing , and telling our own narratives are life - giving means to integrate our minds , which will help us attend both to our own feelings and to God’s .

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Why can it be so difficult to connect with God emotionally ? Simply put , our emotional response to God is often clouded by our own stories and implicit memory activity . My neural pathways representing those well - encoded states of shame or guilt leave little room for the new pathways of joy and delight . This is why we need to be attentive to what others have experienced that reminds us of the way God is , not the way our implicit memories and primary emotional states make him out to be .

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We live in a world , however , that encourages us to take an unbalanced approach in the way we engage God and the way we engage others about God . Emotion usually is given an honorary but lesser seat at the table . No , our relationship with God is not only about emotion — far from it . Yet emotion is where it begins .

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Psalm 26 : 2 - 3 . Test me , LORD , and try me , examine my heart and my mind ; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness .

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He wants to know what is in his own mind , and is asking for another mind to assist him .

Chapter 7: Attachment: The Connections of Life

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Likewise , without input from other minds , a single mind becomes anxious , then depressed , then hopeless , and then dies , either by intentional means ( suicide ) or more passive forms of poor self - care .

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It is not good for a man or woman — or a neuron or a brain — to be alone .

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but this will not occur without a significant influence from an outside relationship or a dramatic shift in circumstances .

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Salvation

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Not surprisingly , adults with secure attachments are generally more empathic than others . Empathy is not something people are “ born with . ” Rather , they develop this quality through what researchers call mentalizing , or mentalization — the imaginative mental activity that enables us to sense and interpret the feelings , desires , and intentions of another person .

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The degree to which a child learns to mentalize in a healthy manner is directly related to the competence of the child’s parent to mentalize in the first place .

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In fact , of all the variables that influence the formation of a child’s attachment pattern , the single most robust factor is whether or not the parent has made sense of her or his own life .

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A person with a secure attachment tells her story with a robust awareness of the emotional landscape of her life as it is interpreted and understood through that very story .

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How to encourage secure attachment in your child

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Emotion , researchers have learned , facilitates the processing of memory — how it is encoded and retrieved .

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By neglecting to pay attention to emotion , however , people run the risk of leaving behind important parts of their lives that may return to haunt them ,

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The parental hallmarks of children with ambivalent attachment are the caregivers ’ inconsistency and intrusiveness .

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She learned , for example , to picture the amygdala ( the fear center ) taking over her limbic circuitry ( her emotional modulator ) and her brain stem ( her fight - or - flight center ) while bypassing her prefrontal cortex — the part that would normally regulate all of the above in a more flexible fashion .

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Learning to regulate a traumatized brain often requires long , hard work .

Chapter 8: Earned Secure Attachment: Pointing to the New Creation

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Through a process called earned secure attachment , people can develop the sense of well - being and confidence that results from healthy attachment .

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This transformation requires either a significant encounter with an outside relationship or a profound change in circumstances .

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What does it look like when someone gains secure attachment ?

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The common denominator in these stories is that all three individuals open themselves to being known for the first time .

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Transformation requires a collaborative interaction , with one person empathically listening and responding to the other so that the speaker has the experience , perhaps for the first time , of feeling felt by another .

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A person who listens empathically and responsively as someone else tells his or her story is able to validate the storyteller and , through questions and musing , arouse that individual’s curiosity so he or she will consider alternative ways to imagine his or her story .

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This interpersonal interaction exposes these functions of the mind and facilitates the integration of various layers of neural structures and brain systems , which in turn creates new neural networks .

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While the term earned secure attachment is used by researchers to describe an experience between two people , essentially it is the process through which God wants to take all of us .

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The details and process will differ according to each individual’s life , but by allowing his story to intersect with ours , God is moving us all from deep places of insecurity to security . The apostle Paul hints at this in one of his letters : Therefore , if anyone is in Christ , the new creation has come : The old has gone , the new is here ! ( 2 CORINTHIANS 5 : 17 )

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If we suffer from insecure attachment , looking to God’s story in its fullness gives us the opportunity to move to a secure means of connecting with him and others . But this is where things get tricky . Even the way we hear , understand , and attempt to enter into God’s story will be colored by the hues of our own .

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But we , viewing the universe through the lenses of our insecure attachments , have a difficult time believing that God gives us absolute security as well .

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But , in order for God’s story to penetrate yours , you must do something that is not always easy for you to do . You must pay attention .

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In this sense , as he grew , Jesus increased in his awareness of God’s pleasure . He did not simply grow in what he knew about God , but in his felt awareness of God’s pleasure with him , God’s joy in Jesus ’ presence .

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What is striking is that before Hagar shows any evidence that she is interested in God’s assistance , he is looking for her :

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God requires Hagar to turn back into the very pain from which she has fled .

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He will ensure her security , despite her status as an Egyptian , a slave , and a woman .

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But God is speaking to parts of her heart that only she would have , could have known :

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Hagar has the experience of being seen . And in her exchange with God , she sees the One “ who sees me . ”

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God meets her and she is known . And this changes her life — and the history of the world — forever .

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It is in her being known , seen , heard , and felt that she is able to return to Sarai .

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Too often we feel invisible , most notably when God is in our presence . We don’t feel seen or known by our spouses , our parents , our friends , and especially our enemies . We long to be seen , sensing that when that happens , we will move with courage , kindness , and strength . Jesus , immersed in stories such as these , lived a life as one who was seen , as one who was known by God . He did not simply know about a God who knows . Jesus was known , just as Hagar was .

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In the language of attachment , our heavenly Father mentalizes at peak capacity — he lovingly senses and interprets our feelings , desires , and intentions at all times .

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This is not to suggest that we are not sinful or wicked . For indeed we are . I am suggesting that this often is not a very helpful place to begin . The place to begin is the beginning . And in the beginning God was , and is , pleased . As we will see in chapter 10 , our brain is easily drawn to pay attention to the source of sin . But what if we begin to pay attention to God’s mentalization of us on his terms ?

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Process in light of total depravity

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This form of guided visual imagery used Scripture to help them pull together their feelings , perceptions , and sensations in a coherent way .

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They had experienced a clear revelation of God’s deep joy in their presence , which is true all the time . This is God’s fundamental posture toward us . . . always .

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What would your life be like if you were completely aware of the Father’s deep awareness of and pleasure with you throughout all of your waking hours ?

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Therefore , do not fear the comprehensive nature of the Father’s voice when he tells you he is pleased with you — even in the face of discipline .

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when you face a difficult temptation or situation , you can envision Jesus with his arm firmly around your shoulder , reminding you that , “ You are just the right person for this dilemma . Your friend [ spouse , child , boss , etc . ] needs just what only you can bring to the table . ” Or , “ You are mine . It is time to give up this wandering , avoiding , frightened behavior [ this gossip , this sloth , this shame , this arrogance , this mindlessness ] that you use to cope with your mind and your world .

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Isolating commands for right living apart from their storied context is at best neurologically nonintegrating and , at worst , disintegrating .

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The psalms are not to be approached ( as we moderns tend to do ) merely as a collection of unrelated poems .

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David’s memory and understanding of God’s action in Israel’s story — in his story — infuse him with the sense of feeling felt — being known — by God . Putting this lyric into the form of music brings neural networks together , knitting David’s heart into a quilt of coherence . Not perfection , mind you .

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In his psalms , we get a picture of a man who , though he intimately knew the feeling of being wounded , ashamed , and afraid , held this pain simultaneously with a deep awareness of God’s presence , attunement , and affection .

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David felt felt , and so he remained flexible , confident , and courageous in the face of adversity .

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As we permit his poetry to embrace us , to sing to our hearts — our minds , our brains — we come to a deeper place of integration and wellness too . It places us in position to perceive God’s presence through a process that activates neural firing in both right and left hemispheres , in lower and higher brain areas .

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The apostle Paul’s proclamation that “ if anyone is in Christ , the new creation has come : The old has gone , the new is here ! ” was no longer simply a metaphor of a mental process ; it reflected real changes in Ed’s mind / brain , new synapsing networks that represented his transformed experience . These eventually led him to be willing to take more risks with his family , including initiating emotional closeness with his grandson .

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What neuroscience is pointing to is that as one person makes more coherent sense of their narrative ( Ed , in this case ) , he or she has the potential to change the brains of those with whom he or she has intimate contact by activating new neural networks .

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If you worry that you messed up your children years ago and now all you can do is pray for them , I want to assure you there is hope . But this hope comes from you making sense of your story first , not your child’s . Even if your own parents are unwilling to write a different ending to their story , don’t despair . Rather , consider how God’s narrative is calling to yours with a voice and demeanor that is easy to please and equally hard to satisfy .

Chapter 9: The Prefrontal Cortex and the Mind of Christ

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The prefrontal cortex ( PFC ) , along with our language centers , is the part of our neurological system that sets us apart from all of God’s other created beings .

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Attention , memory , emotion , and attachment all come together and are integrated at the PFC .

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Yet the PFC enables us to consciously and intentionally choose our response when we are hurt , annoyed , or defensive .

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Too often they are out of balance ; the good news is that God intends to intersect our story with his , which has the potential to change our minds , our brains , and our lives . When our minds are integrated , train wrecks like the one in my family’s kitchen are much less likely to happen . The prefrontal cortex plays a key role in integrating these brain functions effectively .

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In this chapter , we will examine how the prefrontal cortex is a specific part of the central nervous system that models in our very brains what Jesus has called us to be as people of God’s family .

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The prefrontal cortex , therefore , functions best when working in an integrated fashion with other parts of the brain .

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the neurons of the PFC usually require conscious attention to activate them .

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The Mindful Brain , Dan Siegel

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In fact , secure attachment is highly correlated with the first eight functions listed below . These attributes are quite robust in people who are securely attached . The nine functions include :

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Siegel has proposed that an integrated prefrontal cortex leads to a life that is flexible , adaptive , coherent , energized , and stable — symbolized by the acronym FACES :

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The way we understand and make sense of our story is reflected in the wiring of our brain .

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It is always easiest simply to leave one congregation for another that “ better suits our needs ” rather than do the hard work of integrating our minds and hearts within themselves and with our fellow parishioners .

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The low road , therefore , represents a dis - integration of the prefrontal cortex .

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Essentially it is a way in which we hide from the truth . As in my interaction with Rachel , much of this truth is emotional in nature . We are either overrun with emotion ( as I was ) , not allowing for alternative , helpful neural tempering ( as when I simply let my fight - or - flight mechanism have its way ) or we ignore it , shutting out valuable emotional input that would better inform our behavioral choices . When we hide from what we feel — from emotion — we hide from the truth . Remember that emotion is not a debatable phenomenon . It is an authentic reflection of our subjective experience , one that is best served by attending to it . When the PFC is essentially off - line , neglecting to provide proper context so we can sense emotional states in a balanced way , we miss the truth of what our brains are attempting to tell us .

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Feelings of vulnerability , hurt , shame , or threat often lead to anger ; when this is not sufficiently addressed we devolve to the experience of resentment . This ultimately leads to contempt .

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Marriage research indicates that one of the most powerful predictors of a marriage’s failure is the degree to which either of the partners expresses contempt for the other .

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First , we must become aware that we are on the low road ; second , we must take adequate steps to shift our physiologic states in order to change the trajectory of our minds ’ course .

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Asking ourselves the who , what , where , when , and how about a situation can tell us a lot and enable us to step back from the intensity of our feelings . Notice I did not include the question why in the list of questions above . That’s because many times why is intended not so much as a question as a statement .

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In most cases , it wouldn’t . When we ask the question “ why ? ” we’re not so much looking for a left - brain explanation ( that is generally an answer to a “ how ” question ) as we are seeking validation for feelings that feel far too overwhelming to be understood .

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We use why as a substitute for the difficult work needed to integrate our right and lower brain emotional states with our left hemisphere linguistic function . If we are not practiced at putting into words those “ groans ” that Paul speaks of in Romans 8 , we are bound , like Job , to put our language to God and others in the why category :

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If this disintegration of the prefrontal cortex keeps us stuck on the low road , any activity we can employ to enhance its differentiation and integration is an on - ramp to the high road .

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Ancient Scripture texts address this process and illustrate how God is at work to integrate our individual minds , as well as the community as a whole . In Psalm 86 : 11 , David writes : Teach me your way , LORD , that I may rely on your faithfulness ; give me an undivided heart , that I may fear your name .

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As God teaches you to love him and others with all of these parts — as he teaches you his way — you undergo , in the dialect of neuroscience , differentiation , or the strengthening and maturation of each particular aspect of your heart , soul , and mind .

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The first two lines of this verse indicate that this knitting together is a process involving two minds , God’s and David’s .

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The heart — our deepest emotional / cognitive / conscious / unconscious self — is manifested most profoundly at the level of the prefrontal cortex .

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The creation of an undivided heart , an integrated prefrontal cortex , leads to justice , mercy , and humility .

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The great myth of modernity as it applies to neuroscience is that we can pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps . We can attain ultimate mindful peacefulness and , by extension , cultural utopia without an Ultimate Other to save us from ourselves .

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Both David and Jeremiah make clear that we are unable to integrate our minds on our own . This is a creative process that God must initiate and vitalize — and has .

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With God’s resurrection of Jesus from the dead , Jesus ’ ascension to his place as Lord of this world , and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit , God has released the power to integrate our prefrontal cortices .

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Here is where centuries of spiritual wisdom and recent neuroscience discoveries converge , offering insights into how we open ourselves up to receive what God has to offer .

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Attunement to the body Developing a deeper awareness of our bodies and what they are telling us on a continual basis is the first step back to the high road .

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Autobiographical narratives : writing and telling your story The low road is fraught with repeated firings of old neural network patterns that represent our limited understanding of our narrative .

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She was able to use her narrative to provide some distance in her mind between herself and her feelings of embarrassment , recognizing that they were what you would expect from a child who was being treated this cruelly .

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The experience of feeling felt Sensing validation . Being understood . Feeling felt . We value few experiences more , especially when we’re in a distressing , noxious emotional state .

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She noted that as she had the experience of feeling felt more often , she was more empowered to regulate her own emotional states as well .

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Integration Exercises

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Neuroscience research confirms that mindful meditative exercises that stretch and challenge the attentional mechanism of your brain enhance the integration of the prefrontal cortex .

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Long before neuroscientists began advocating these approaches , believers engaged in spiritual practices that foster the mind’s development — whether we call it an undivided heart or an integrated prefrontal cortex .

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These practices , which are usually called spiritual disciplines , include the inward disciplines of meditation , prayer , fasting , and study ; the outward disciplines of simplicity , solitude , submission , and service ; and the corporate disciplines of confession , worship , guidance , and celebration .

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So what does it mean to have the mind of Christ ?

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To have the mind of Christ , therefore , requires that we encounter an integrating Spirit who searches us and allows us to know him as we are searched — as we are known . God longs for us to pay attention to that Spirit who is dwelling within us . Anything that we do to strengthen our capacity to do this will be helpful . Submitting to the spiritual disciplines is one way to put ourselves in the position to hear his voice .

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In short , the disciplines enable us to pay attention to our minds in order to pay attention to the Spirit who is speaking to us through that very medium .

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Jesus ’ mind , I suggest , reflects the most integrated prefrontal cortex of any human of any time .

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Satan suggests that Jesus use his gifts as coping strategies in the face of anxiety .

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From the perspective of neuroscience , Satan was tempting him in ways that encouraged Jesus not to pay attention , to be mindless toward his emotional states and memories , and to essentially live in the way of a dis - integrated prefrontal cortex .

Chapter 10: Neuroscience: Sin and Redemption

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Furthermore , just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God , so God gave them over to a depraved mind , so that they do what ought not to be done .

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Paul suggests that these sinful behaviors emerge as we first discard or abandon our relationship with God ( “ [ they ] did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God ” ) and then devolve into a mind that is essentially wicked , so comprehensively and desperately sick that we may be unaware of our true state .

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From a neuroscience perspective , sin is deeply reflected in the degree to which our minds are dis - integrated , or in Paul’s language , depraved .

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No wonder , then , that Paul links regeneration with the healing , or integration , of the mind :

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While sin reflects dis - integration , mindful integration is an important function of redemption .

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In fact , the creative and integrative activity of the Spirit is reflected by the integration of the prefrontal cortex through the stimulation of neural activation and growth ( SNAG ) , which creates new life in the form of new neural networks .

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We cannot ultimately do what only Jesus can do .

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But God does command that we live life as mindfully as Jesus did so we can “ act justly , and to love mercy , and to walk humbly with your God ” ( Micah 6 : 8 ) and so extend God’s Kingdom here on earth .

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So let’s consider what neuroscience tells us about what happens to the mind when we sense a disconnection from others .

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We see Jesus setting limits as well .

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Toxic rupture is so seamlessly connected with the dis - integration of our minds that it almost becomes synonymous with sin .

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Shame , preceded by fear , is consistently the antecedent of sin , as we will see in the following chapter .

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It is the felt sensation of deep inadequacy .

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This suggests that the sensation and experience of shame is active in the mind and body of a child before the development of language and logical , linear thought processes .

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Guilt , by contrast , emanates as a response to one’s behavior as it affects the emotional state of another , and it tends to develop in most children around the age of three to four .

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And for Paul , to be present with Christ meant to be absent from shame completely .

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centering , which is simply focusing your attention on your mind and body .

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After regaining clarity through centering , you can enter a greater state of mindfulness .

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Mindfulness leads to attunement to your child’s mind , progressively directing your attention from your mind to the circumstances of the event as seen by her mind , reflecting on what she may be feeling and thinking .

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Taking initiative . It is then up to you to take the initiative to change the course of events .

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This story of repair gives us a hint of what God is up to in the process of redemption , as spoken in the language of neuroscience and attachment . He is moving us , by virtue of his ultimate repair in and through Jesus , toward renewed , transformed minds reflective of integration . We can then extend this outward in the power of the Holy Spirit to assist in the integration of others ’ minds and the growing communion between minds .

Chapter 11: The Rupture of Sin

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Neuroscience acts like a magnifying glass , enabling us to see detail about the human condition that we might otherwise overlook .

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Neuroscience , as we’ve seen , helps us recognize that sin results from not paying close enough attention to the varying experiences of our minds as mediated by the reptilian , limbic , and cortical portions of our brains — those parts of our souls by which God’s voice is mediated .

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We sense that we have been shamed enough . No need to read the Bible to be reminded .

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We do the same : creating God in our own image through the lenses of our attachment patterns ;

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With the first question , the serpent evokes within the woman the dynamic of doubt , the first of a series of emotional shifts that occur within Eve .

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Doubt includes a left - mode analytic comparison of data , a check for accuracy , and right - versus - wrong thinking

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In other words , he is skillful in the art of trickery . And in order to trick Eve , he first must alter her memory .

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As we’ve seen , memory is not so much about what has happened in the past as what we do in our minds with these recollections in the present to anticipate the future .

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We have an infinite array of coping mechanisms , or idols , at our disposal .

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Hiding is the first fundamental behavioral outcome of sin .

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Hiding requires us to put energy into keeping things about ourselves away from our own and others ’ conscious awareness .

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He comes seeking to know them . He comes longing to provide them with the opportunity to reveal themselves and in the process feel God feeling them .

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As we explored in chapter 9 , interrogative questions that invite true revelation and engagement , that facilitate being known , begin with asking who , what , where , when , and how in an emotional context of safety .

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We either are not aware of or do not believe in our capacity to hurt God .

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Adam and Eve’s shame has doubled back on itself . Eve’s fear led to shame , which led to hiding ( fig leaves ) — which led to fear , which led to shame and hiding ( behind the trees ) . This is the basic pattern of sin . It begins with not paying attention — to the voice of the one who tells us we are loved beyond comprehension and who repeatedly asks us where we are — and follows the low road of fear , shame , and concealment .

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We are ever - changing and always providing God the potential for a dynamic , oscillating , joy - filled relationship .

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Shame , ignited by fear , leads to sin — to the dis - integration of our minds , beginning with the prefrontal cortex and spreading to our individual relationships , communities , and nations .

Chapter 12: The Repair of Resurrection

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gospel is the declaration of the reality of Relationship .

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In essence by paying attention to the mental representations of the memory of hearing his Father’s voice and the emotional state that was simultaneously activated , Jesus effectively reinforced his awareness of God’s love for him .

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Too often the fear of feeling fear and shame all over again causes us to avoid the discipline of confession and forgo the liberty of forgiveness .

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Yet it is only when we allow ourselves to be known , when we allow for intimacy , that we permit another person to use all of his or her nonverbal power to activate those parts of our right hemisphere that represent emotional states that are too painful for us to bear in the absence of another brain .

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forgiveness always involves a measurable change in behavior .

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God does wait for us to be real about our shame so he can meet us in it and then rewrite our narratives .

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It is not enough simply to hear the words or take in the fact that we are forgiven . That would limit forgiveness to a left - mode operation and would only reinforce our dis - integrated , unforgiven state .

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As we attend to memory , emotion , and our narratives , we will be much more aware of shame when it rears its ugly head .

Chapter 13: The Mind and Community: The Brain on Love, Mercy, and Justice

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Different people have varying degrees of need for either closeness or separation . Too much of either one begins to create distress .

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our minds ( individually and in community ) work most effectively when they experience a healthy balance between connection and independence .

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As humans , we need both deep connection and autonomy . Each is reinforced and energized by the other ; harmony between the two leads to lives that are more stable , flexible , and adaptive .

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when our brains operate in a flexible , adaptive , coherent , energized , and stable fashion , we are able to live in community in a way that encourages those around us to develop these same qualities .

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The Hebrew sense of mercy and justice is the notion that God , and we by extension , is in the business of putting all things to right .

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to live as a community of people whose highest callings are to love and be known as well as to know .

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chapters 12 and 13 . This passage expands our vision of what it means to move from developing mindful brains to creating communities that love deeply and perceptively .

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Paul , like any Jew of his day , would not consider the value of an individual apart from that person’s place in a larger community .

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Paul next tackles the thorny issue of shame .

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Consider the parts of our minds — thoughts , images , feelings , memories — that we see as shameful .

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arrogance , the offspring of shame ,

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Pride and shame are in fact two sides of the same coin .

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After stressing the body’s integration , Paul next emphasizes that the body is also differentiated .

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Furthermore , there is a certain functional hierarchy to the body .

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We confuse visibility with significance , and position with authority .

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Love is emblematic of an integrated brain , one that is mindful of the mind of God and others .

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Notice again that so much of what Paul describes is something that love does or does not do .

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As I mentioned in the introduction , this observation does not prove the Kingdom of God — a limited left - mode operational maneuver — but rather reflects it and invites us to trust that Jesus is the Lord of the universe and therefore we have nothing to fear .

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Becoming a body that breathes justice and mercy requires the presence of love , which then doubles back , its full development depending on that very community .

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Over many months , she took a number of steps that prevented her from spiraling down into the depths of depression .

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Laura was also willing to consider that the God of her story was not the God of the Bible , but a distorted mental representation she had created to cope with her constant , overwhelming emotions of shame and loneliness .

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I remind Laura that the neural pathways that have been fired in particular ways repeatedly during her experience of depressed states will probably never go away , but they will have continually decreasing potency as she connects and strengthens new neural networks developed by the transforming renewal of her mind ( Romans 12 : 2 ) .

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I remind her that this pharmacologic intervention supports the ongoing work she is doing to work out her salvation and become the woman God longs for her to be .

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There is nothing contained within these pages that does not boil down to really hard work empowered by the Holy Spirit .

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These individuals may require lengthy exposure to many relationships , whether professional , personal , or both , that will patiently , faithfully provide a “ communal container ” in which they may discover what true integration is all about .

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God’s Kingdom is not merely a theological construct but is being actively co - constructed by God and the rest of us as we are transformed by the renewing of our minds . In fact , our minds — the energy of our brains / bodies and the information of our experiences — reflect this very way of community and love of which Paul so beautifully writes in 1 Corinthians .

Epilogue

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As such , the arts have the potential to facilitate the integration of our minds .

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Anything we can do to make this realm of life more prominent will make us deeper and more playful ; in other words , more like Jesus .

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Alternatively , other traditions pay homage to functions of the right mode of operation , not giving the left mode a proper opportunity to both interpret what the right mode sends it and inform it and set proper limits on it .

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We will always need theologians who , under the invigorating power of the Holy Spirit , rigorously study the Scriptures and traditions of the church not just so we will “ know ” the truth but so we may live more truly and embody integrated minds , which will inevitably lead to mercy and justice .

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Yes , we need the rudder of the left brain , but without the current of our right brain , our boat goes nowhere .

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It is important , therefore , that whenever we’re involved in preaching or evangelism , we are attentive , first , to the story we are telling and , second , to the ways our story is shaping how we tell God’s story .

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being mindful of the elements of interpersonal neurobiology enable us to interact with each other in more productive ways

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Jesus leaves no doubt that war as a way of life , whether between family members , factions within a congregation , denominations , worldview representatives , nations , or humans and the earth , leads to mindless dis - integration of the environment , individuals , families , and communities

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As we focus more of our attention on the elements of our employees ’ minds or our supervisors ’ motivations , we invite greater cooperation and integration

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For as you are known in the manner in which we have spoken , you will experience the freedom and courage of love — and the liberation and confidence to encounter God and assist him in the construction of his Kingdom