Brian Draper
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Brian Draper |
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I have God on the brain, apparently. Which may not surprise you. But then, so do you, according to a report from the US National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, published yesterday. We all do.
It suggests our brains are programmed for religious experiences. The scientists looking for a 'God spot', which they thought controlled religious belief, didn't find one specifically, but discovered instead that "belief is embedded in a whole range of other … systems in the brain that we use every day."
I'm no neuroscientist, but spiritually this rings true. For belief isn't just about going to church on Sundays, but about the way you live your life.
At the turn of the century, Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall published a groundbreaking book called Spiritual Intelligence, which drew on neuroscience to argue that we have a third, oft neglected 'intelligence', which completes both our rational and emotional capabilities, and helps us to "live life at a deeper level of meaning".
Our 'SQ,' as they call it, helps us to be creative, visionary and spontaneous; it provides intuition and values, and bridges the gap between ourselves and the world out there.
It's not simply a matter, then, of using rational intelligence to decide for or against religion; nor is it about the more touchy-feely among us channelling emotional intelligence into stuff like church. Instead, it's as if we've been hard-wired, or have evolved (delete as applicable), to sense that there is more to life than meets the eye, and to try to live accordingly within every situation.
It's like that line in the book of Ecclesiastes, which suggests that 'God has set eternity in the hearts of people'.
It follows that - just as those who are very clever can make foolish decisions; and just as those who aren't classically trained, for example, can compose a stirring melody, so too you don't have to be "religious" to be in tune with the rhythms of grace in your life.
In fact, some of the most zealously religious people exhibit the least spiritual intelligence; while some of the most non-religious display a soulfulness that I covet.
Jesus spent much of his time railing against the zealots of his day. Whitewashed tombs, brood of vipers, and all of that. But his life and teaching still exuded spiritual intelligence: the last will be first; those who cling to their life will lose it; love your enemies.
Wisdom that makes sense, unusually, intuitively; and takes us deeper. One Way, perhaps, into the mystery of daily life, that invites us to really use our brain.