I recently read a book called How God Changes Your Brain. Now before you start worrying that this is another of those dogmatic, but untested ideas about how necessary relationship with God is, let me assure you that this work comes from a highly reputable source, and while it has some startling conclusions, it is not a veiled attempt to manipulate or indoctrinate you into some kind of Christian Orthodoxy. This series of studies articulated in the book is a product of The Center for Spirituality and the Mind at the University of Pennsylvania. It is co-authored by Andrew Newberg, MD, a physician who is the Director of the Center and Mark Robert Waldman, a therapist and lecturer who is an Associate Fellow of the Center.
According to their own research, and including their review of many other reputable studies, religious practice is not only good for the brain, but it is good for relationships and community, too. One interesting factor is that “God” or a particular image of God is not a necessary factor in creating the beneficial effects. For example, a broad range of meditation practices have been shown to be highly and rapidly beneficial to memory and general cognitive functioning. There is one qualification, though. If the focus of meditation does include an image of God, the nature of that image does matter. While the details of the particular image are inconsequential, whether the image is positive or negative matters a great deal. If a person meditates on the image of an angry, demanding, dangerous God, effects on the brain are negative. A positive, loving, forgiving image, however, results in very positive effects from meditative practice.
In short, the following eight practices enhance brain function (listed from least to most effective): Smiling, Intellectual Activity, Conscious Relaxation, Yawning (that’s right, Yawning!), Meditation, Aerobic Exercise, Dialogue with others, and (get this!) Faith.
This last practice is a bit surprising in the light of their assertion that the particular religious or theological formulation doesn’t matter. It comes to this. Being able to trust in your belief system is really good for you, even if you recognize that you can’t know for certain if it is true!
Does this mean, then, that beliefs shouldn’t be challenged? Should we all become conservative in our theological perspective? I don’t think so, and here is why.
A part of a healthy belief system is its ability to mature over time. So while we may not have to trust the ultimate accuracy of our belief systems, we must believe that those systems are the best we can have at the moment, and we trust (and this is the key) that growth and development is integral to our theology and to our faith/trust in it.
Getting back to the list for a moment, I encourage you to see how many of these activities are present in your life. I also ask you to consider if your religious community encourages these activities, or if for some reason, it ignores or even inhibits them.
Now, theoretically, all of these can be exercised without participation in a religious congregation. Still, speaking personally, I find that I need the support of like-minded others. No matter how useful or noble religious practices might be, I have a hard time staying engaged all by myself. Religious congregations don’t have to exist in order to promote these activities, but wouldn’t if be great if they did? What do you think?
Wayne Gustafson
“Our faith is 2000 years old. Our thinking isn’t.”
The United Church__of Christ
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Church in Interesting Times
Perhaps you know the ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in an interesting time.” It was a curse because the conservative temperament of the culture of that era demanded consistency, predictability, and regularity in all of life’s affairs. The more modern phrase – “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – would have adequately expressed the general sentiment.
Sometimes social progressives think of change in terms of necessary growth and development, but they run into resistance from those who hold the above sentiment. The challenges of 2009 have the capacity to drive conservatives and progressives alike stark raving mad. It seems that everything around us is broken. A political system that used to function by means of dialogue and compromise has become a dysfunctional mess of partisan posturing. A business community that used to see itself as providing valuable contributions to the well being of all has deteriorated into a fight for short-term profits that ultimately have little to do with the services and goods that are provided and received. The social and cultural environment that used to build in space for the well-being of families, and even had room for Sabbath, has changed into a set of overwhelming demands for time and resources that suck the energy and spirit out of everyone. The church that used to stand apart as a sanctuary and as a healing community for people, now must compete with sports teams, entertainment offerings, video games, i-phones, the internet for the small remnant of time and resource that the demands of working for a living leave unscheduled.
We can’t go back to how it used to be – at least not right away. But, we also can’t ignore the ever-present drain on time, energy, resources, and spirit either. I have said many times that if the church tries to compete in the worlds of entertainment, sports, or even service organization, sooner or later it will lose. While it may touch many other areas, the church does not exist fundamentally for entertainment, competition, or even public service.
If the church cannot be defined in those terms, what, then, is it? When I was growing up, the church was simply the place you were a part of on Sunday mornings. It had something to do with heaven, and something to do with the spiritual truth about life. It had very little competition from other social activities (although, I will confess to having gone skiing instead on some Sundays). The church didn’t have to work very hard to define itself, because those were less complicated times. Its identity and its connection were generally understood by most people that I had any contact with.
In our “interesting” times, this is no longer the case. I think we have to work very hard to articulate who and what the church is today. We certainly need to know what the community needs from us, but, more than that, we need to know who we are. What is characteristic of who we are as the church?
Here are some of the characteristic attempts to describe the church’s identity:
I’m sure there are many others.
All I know is that many churches are trying to live and be in an interesting time.
How would you articulate the identity of the church today?
Wayne Gustafson
“Our faith is 2000 years old. Our thinking isn’t.”
The United Church__of Christ
Sometimes social progressives think of change in terms of necessary growth and development, but they run into resistance from those who hold the above sentiment. The challenges of 2009 have the capacity to drive conservatives and progressives alike stark raving mad. It seems that everything around us is broken. A political system that used to function by means of dialogue and compromise has become a dysfunctional mess of partisan posturing. A business community that used to see itself as providing valuable contributions to the well being of all has deteriorated into a fight for short-term profits that ultimately have little to do with the services and goods that are provided and received. The social and cultural environment that used to build in space for the well-being of families, and even had room for Sabbath, has changed into a set of overwhelming demands for time and resources that suck the energy and spirit out of everyone. The church that used to stand apart as a sanctuary and as a healing community for people, now must compete with sports teams, entertainment offerings, video games, i-phones, the internet for the small remnant of time and resource that the demands of working for a living leave unscheduled.
We can’t go back to how it used to be – at least not right away. But, we also can’t ignore the ever-present drain on time, energy, resources, and spirit either. I have said many times that if the church tries to compete in the worlds of entertainment, sports, or even service organization, sooner or later it will lose. While it may touch many other areas, the church does not exist fundamentally for entertainment, competition, or even public service.
If the church cannot be defined in those terms, what, then, is it? When I was growing up, the church was simply the place you were a part of on Sunday mornings. It had something to do with heaven, and something to do with the spiritual truth about life. It had very little competition from other social activities (although, I will confess to having gone skiing instead on some Sundays). The church didn’t have to work very hard to define itself, because those were less complicated times. Its identity and its connection were generally understood by most people that I had any contact with.
In our “interesting” times, this is no longer the case. I think we have to work very hard to articulate who and what the church is today. We certainly need to know what the community needs from us, but, more than that, we need to know who we are. What is characteristic of who we are as the church?
Here are some of the characteristic attempts to describe the church’s identity:
1. The church knows God’s will and has to convince people to follow it – or else!
2. The church is the (only?) way to salvation – whatever that means.
3. The church is the soul of the community – and without it, the community may have no soul.
4. The church is a collection of sinners who know that God’s love is bigger than their individual or collective “badness.”
5. The church is a collection of the lost, who at least know that they are lost.
6. The church is a meeting place for people who know God’s love and those who seek it.
7. The church is where you can ask all the questions that are not allowed in other places.
8. The church is a sanctuary from the problems of the world.
9. The church is a spiritual filling station.
10. The church is the “body of Christ.”
I’m sure there are many others.
All I know is that many churches are trying to live and be in an interesting time.
How would you articulate the identity of the church today?
Wayne Gustafson
“Our faith is 2000 years old. Our thinking isn’t.”
The United Church__of Christ
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
When a Virus Comes to Church
While I was driving to the church this morning, NPR news was reporting that many religious congregations are rethinking their worship practices in the light of the increasingly prevalent and dangerous viruses that get passed around during flu season every year. Holy Water, shaking hands, hugging, Holy Communion taken from a common cup, and kissing the Torah are all obvious ways that viruses can be passed around. These practices, however, have been deeply rooted in meaningful worship experiences for a very long time. It’s hard to let go of them.
In the last church I served as Interim Minister, the worship bulletin routinely carried this statement:
While the hygienic benefits of a policy like this are obvious, we cannot simply adopt them without acknowledging deeper significant issues. Christianity has always been ambivalent about human bodies and human touch. Some passages in the New Testament (usually taken out of context) suggest that matters of the spirit (or mind) are “godly”, while matters of the flesh (that means human bodies and emotions) are intrinsically evil. Sexuality typically is seen to be suspect and most human desires surely lead to trouble. On the surface of human experience these ideas carry a lot of truth. For example, it is true that sexual contact can be used as a way to avoid intimacy. But just because sexuality can be used inappropriately, that doesn’t make it evil in its essence.
But, human life and experience is not confined to the superficial. I am reminded of the famous study on infant survival that was done right after World War II. During the rocket attacks in London, many infants were orphaned, and these babies were cared for in large well-run orphanages. While the basics of food, water, clothing and protection were given to all the children, only a certain segment of them survived. The essential factor turned out to be the availability of touch. Those babies who were not held enough, that is to say who did not experience enough human touch, did not thrive. Only those who were touched enough were able to survive. There are those who worship in our churches who do not receive any touch apart from that occasional ritual touch in church (or when they go to a physician).Even adults need loving touch in order to thrive. (Of course, abusive touch is another matter altogether, for children and adults alike.)
Loving touch is vital to human beings, so when we make rules that limit touch, we must be aware of what we are losing, and we must attempt to recreate those lost, but necessary, experiences in other ways.
From the perspective of that human need for relationally based touch, we can identify many layers at which touch can happen. And not all of them require physical touch. So let me suggest that we need to touch minds – and we do that through deep conversation and dialog. We need to touch spirits – and we do that through prayer, worship, singing together, and even through our communal “play.” We need to touch emotionally – and we do that by laughing and crying together and by mutually deep listening to the emotional foundations of our deepest held beliefs.
While we go about adopting approaches to limit the spread of viruses (and I strongly recommend that we do), let us also adopt approaches to maximizing human being-to-human being contact in as many other ways as we can. Let’s find ways to celebrate together, to grieve together, to sing together, to play together, to listen deeply and respectfully to one another, and to address the legitimate needs of the world around us together.
But don’t forget to use your hand sanitizer.
Wayne Gustafson
“Never place a period where God has placed a comma.” Gracie Allen
The United Church__of Christ
In the last church I served as Interim Minister, the worship bulletin routinely carried this statement:
We value the opportunity to share the peace of Christ with one another in our Sunday morning worship experience. So that we might preserve its positive quality for all, we ask that you be sensitive to the needs of your fellow worshippers with regard to how the peace is passed. In some churches the peace is passed with a hug. While hugging can certainly happen here, we invite persons always to ask permission first. People differ in their desires for and comfort with physical contact, so we try to be respectful of those differences.
During cold and flu seasons, some persons might request that there be no contact at all, including handshakes, to protect against the spread of disease. Please don’t take it personally. Of course, at any time you are invited to communicate your welcome of one another and to share the peace of Christ with your warm words.
While the hygienic benefits of a policy like this are obvious, we cannot simply adopt them without acknowledging deeper significant issues. Christianity has always been ambivalent about human bodies and human touch. Some passages in the New Testament (usually taken out of context) suggest that matters of the spirit (or mind) are “godly”, while matters of the flesh (that means human bodies and emotions) are intrinsically evil. Sexuality typically is seen to be suspect and most human desires surely lead to trouble. On the surface of human experience these ideas carry a lot of truth. For example, it is true that sexual contact can be used as a way to avoid intimacy. But just because sexuality can be used inappropriately, that doesn’t make it evil in its essence.
But, human life and experience is not confined to the superficial. I am reminded of the famous study on infant survival that was done right after World War II. During the rocket attacks in London, many infants were orphaned, and these babies were cared for in large well-run orphanages. While the basics of food, water, clothing and protection were given to all the children, only a certain segment of them survived. The essential factor turned out to be the availability of touch. Those babies who were not held enough, that is to say who did not experience enough human touch, did not thrive. Only those who were touched enough were able to survive. There are those who worship in our churches who do not receive any touch apart from that occasional ritual touch in church (or when they go to a physician).Even adults need loving touch in order to thrive. (Of course, abusive touch is another matter altogether, for children and adults alike.)
Loving touch is vital to human beings, so when we make rules that limit touch, we must be aware of what we are losing, and we must attempt to recreate those lost, but necessary, experiences in other ways.
From the perspective of that human need for relationally based touch, we can identify many layers at which touch can happen. And not all of them require physical touch. So let me suggest that we need to touch minds – and we do that through deep conversation and dialog. We need to touch spirits – and we do that through prayer, worship, singing together, and even through our communal “play.” We need to touch emotionally – and we do that by laughing and crying together and by mutually deep listening to the emotional foundations of our deepest held beliefs.
While we go about adopting approaches to limit the spread of viruses (and I strongly recommend that we do), let us also adopt approaches to maximizing human being-to-human being contact in as many other ways as we can. Let’s find ways to celebrate together, to grieve together, to sing together, to play together, to listen deeply and respectfully to one another, and to address the legitimate needs of the world around us together.
But don’t forget to use your hand sanitizer.
Wayne Gustafson
“Never place a period where God has placed a comma.” Gracie Allen
The United Church__of Christ
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Creating Sacred Space
As I sit to write this, I find my mind wandering to all of the other tasks and issues that threaten to overwhelm me at the beginning of the church program year. While I have found it helpful to write about Healthy Christian Practices over the last three months, those blog installments have not addressed a significant challenge that we all face (One that is particularly difficult at this time of year): How do we find the time to do the things we really want to do? For that matter, how do we even find the time to think about, much less decide on, the things we really want to do?
The range of choices that we as individuals and families have these days is truly dizzying. I remember many years ago reading a case study in one of (therapist and author) Rollo May’s books about a woman who was depressed. Her healing came when she realized that she wasn’t required to take advantage of every opportunity that was available to her. While the process of making those choices might be difficult, the result for her was a more manageable and less anxious life.
Life has not grown any simpler since then. In fact, we now have many more choices than ever before. So the question about how to find time has become even more difficult to answer.
I would like to believe that we always choose to do those things that we truly want to do… Oh well, that was a nice thought. I find that making choices these days is like living in the middle of a carnival where we are surrounded by barkers who all insist that we try their game or ride. If we have children in tow, the choices are even more difficult because the barkers immediately aim their pitch at the spontaneity (ok, at the impulsiveness) of the young.
So, is it selfish to ask ourselves what we really want? Is it unchristian even to have individual desires? These are important questions because I think that our health depends on our ability to make some self-caring choices. My first concern involves how we find the space, time, and quiet thoughtfulness that I believe are necessary for us to make good choices.
One way to think about the dilemma is by redefining the problem. We often say, (and I have written above) that we need to “find” time, as if time is lying around just waiting to be found. The task becomes more possible if we consider “making” time instead. In a way, I am referring to sacred space and time. Sacred space and time is set aside, identified, and marked off by a clear boundary. This kind of time is in the same spirit as the Day of Rest in the creation story in Genesis. It is special time, when we have a chance to catch up with ourselves, when we can pay attention to those areas in our lives that are empty or out of balance. It is time when we can consider how we might address those needs.
Now, before you say, “I know where he’s going with this,” let me tell you that I’m not going there. I am not going to be just one more carnival barker trying to get you to “spend your time” here in church instead of anywhere else.
I want you to think about how you will address your own need for time, space, peace, reflection, and rest. If you think that the church can assist in this creation of space, then I want to hear about it. If the church is coming across like a carnival barker, then I want to know that, too. Ultimately, I want the church to be supportive in appropriate ways, and I do not want it simply to add to the complexity of decisions that people must make.
Finally, how does one “make time?” The first answer is to breathe. It’s amazing how much sacred space just one conscious breath can create. The second answer is from The Ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” Sabbath times require a conscious decision to set them apart from the normal busyness of life. The only way Sabbath time happens by accident is when we are wounded so badly that we must step out of normal time while we heal. Clearly, that’s a very expensive way to have Sabbath time. Conscious decision is much cheaper (and less painful).
What do you think?
Wayne Gustafson
“No matter who you are or where you are in life’s journey, you’re welcome here.”
The United Church__of Christ
The range of choices that we as individuals and families have these days is truly dizzying. I remember many years ago reading a case study in one of (therapist and author) Rollo May’s books about a woman who was depressed. Her healing came when she realized that she wasn’t required to take advantage of every opportunity that was available to her. While the process of making those choices might be difficult, the result for her was a more manageable and less anxious life.
Life has not grown any simpler since then. In fact, we now have many more choices than ever before. So the question about how to find time has become even more difficult to answer.
I would like to believe that we always choose to do those things that we truly want to do… Oh well, that was a nice thought. I find that making choices these days is like living in the middle of a carnival where we are surrounded by barkers who all insist that we try their game or ride. If we have children in tow, the choices are even more difficult because the barkers immediately aim their pitch at the spontaneity (ok, at the impulsiveness) of the young.
So, is it selfish to ask ourselves what we really want? Is it unchristian even to have individual desires? These are important questions because I think that our health depends on our ability to make some self-caring choices. My first concern involves how we find the space, time, and quiet thoughtfulness that I believe are necessary for us to make good choices.
One way to think about the dilemma is by redefining the problem. We often say, (and I have written above) that we need to “find” time, as if time is lying around just waiting to be found. The task becomes more possible if we consider “making” time instead. In a way, I am referring to sacred space and time. Sacred space and time is set aside, identified, and marked off by a clear boundary. This kind of time is in the same spirit as the Day of Rest in the creation story in Genesis. It is special time, when we have a chance to catch up with ourselves, when we can pay attention to those areas in our lives that are empty or out of balance. It is time when we can consider how we might address those needs.
Now, before you say, “I know where he’s going with this,” let me tell you that I’m not going there. I am not going to be just one more carnival barker trying to get you to “spend your time” here in church instead of anywhere else.
I want you to think about how you will address your own need for time, space, peace, reflection, and rest. If you think that the church can assist in this creation of space, then I want to hear about it. If the church is coming across like a carnival barker, then I want to know that, too. Ultimately, I want the church to be supportive in appropriate ways, and I do not want it simply to add to the complexity of decisions that people must make.
Finally, how does one “make time?” The first answer is to breathe. It’s amazing how much sacred space just one conscious breath can create. The second answer is from The Ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.” Sabbath times require a conscious decision to set them apart from the normal busyness of life. The only way Sabbath time happens by accident is when we are wounded so badly that we must step out of normal time while we heal. Clearly, that’s a very expensive way to have Sabbath time. Conscious decision is much cheaper (and less painful).
What do you think?
Wayne Gustafson
“No matter who you are or where you are in life’s journey, you’re welcome here.”
The United Church__of Christ
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Beauty – Touching the Divine
In today’s installment, I will complete my discussions of the 10 Christian Practices that healthy mainline/liberal congregations tend to embrace (as articulated by Diana Butler Bass in Christianity for the Rest of Us). For review, the 10 practices are: hospitality, discernment, healing, contemplation, testimony, diversity, justice, worship, reflection, and beauty.
Dr. Bass connects the experience of beauty with touching the divine. She writes mostly about some of the ways that congregations use sanctuary design, music, liturgy, and art as integral parts of worship. I want to broaden the concept somewhat.
On February 18, 2009, I wrote in this blog (What Gives Life Meaning?) that meaningful human experience distills into three fundamental elements: creativity, the ability to appreciate beauty, and healthy relationships with self, others, God, and the rest of creation. Today I want to expand on the ability to appreciate beauty, although in a way, all three can be part of the same human experience.
I begin with the notion that in the search for connection with the divine, words and intellect can only take us so far. In worship, while the well-crafted sermon can stimulate thinking and give ways to connect the religious world with the practical problems facing people in their daily lives, more is needed to help us towards that connection with the divine. Beautiful sanctuaries, banners, music liturgy and ritual communicate to deeper parts of us. But the divine power of beauty is certainly not confined to worship. Creation itself communicates beauty to us in many ways. Here are two broad categories.
There is so much beauty in nature that touches and heals human souls: a quiet lake, majestic mountains, or the fragile and courageous opening of a blossom. Beauty exists in the large and in the small. By the way, the film, Microcosmos, demonstrates the diverse beauty in the very small world of insects and other creatures. We all have benefited from the beauty of creation. Of course, we miss the opportunity if we don’t keep our eyes open to it.
The second category is the beauty that comes from human creativity and relationship. We affirm that we are created in the image of God, even though we don’t exactly know what we mean by the statement. Creativity is one of the characteristics that we attribute to the divine, so, perhaps our ability to be creative is an expression of divine creativity. One might say that being creative is one of the legitimate purposes for our lives. Whenever we engage in creativity, we add some beauty to the world, and we increase the chances for others to appreciate the beauty in all creation. In this way we participate in touching the divine.
Too much world energy goes into the manufacture of “stuff” that soon becomes trash. True beauty does not come from the domination of the natural world. True beauty comes from the creative relationship between the spirit of imagination in the person and the life energy of the natural world. We have a sacred opportunity to touch the divine whenever we participate in that relationship. Furthermore, the creation of beauty is very sustainable. It produces abundance, not scarcity. Look around you. In today’s world, which do you think we need more?
So touch the divine and make sure there are many ways for it to happen within the life of the congregation.
Wayne Gustafson
“God is still speaking.”
The United Church__ of Christ
Dr. Bass connects the experience of beauty with touching the divine. She writes mostly about some of the ways that congregations use sanctuary design, music, liturgy, and art as integral parts of worship. I want to broaden the concept somewhat.
On February 18, 2009, I wrote in this blog (What Gives Life Meaning?) that meaningful human experience distills into three fundamental elements: creativity, the ability to appreciate beauty, and healthy relationships with self, others, God, and the rest of creation. Today I want to expand on the ability to appreciate beauty, although in a way, all three can be part of the same human experience.
I begin with the notion that in the search for connection with the divine, words and intellect can only take us so far. In worship, while the well-crafted sermon can stimulate thinking and give ways to connect the religious world with the practical problems facing people in their daily lives, more is needed to help us towards that connection with the divine. Beautiful sanctuaries, banners, music liturgy and ritual communicate to deeper parts of us. But the divine power of beauty is certainly not confined to worship. Creation itself communicates beauty to us in many ways. Here are two broad categories.
There is so much beauty in nature that touches and heals human souls: a quiet lake, majestic mountains, or the fragile and courageous opening of a blossom. Beauty exists in the large and in the small. By the way, the film, Microcosmos, demonstrates the diverse beauty in the very small world of insects and other creatures. We all have benefited from the beauty of creation. Of course, we miss the opportunity if we don’t keep our eyes open to it.
The second category is the beauty that comes from human creativity and relationship. We affirm that we are created in the image of God, even though we don’t exactly know what we mean by the statement. Creativity is one of the characteristics that we attribute to the divine, so, perhaps our ability to be creative is an expression of divine creativity. One might say that being creative is one of the legitimate purposes for our lives. Whenever we engage in creativity, we add some beauty to the world, and we increase the chances for others to appreciate the beauty in all creation. In this way we participate in touching the divine.
Too much world energy goes into the manufacture of “stuff” that soon becomes trash. True beauty does not come from the domination of the natural world. True beauty comes from the creative relationship between the spirit of imagination in the person and the life energy of the natural world. We have a sacred opportunity to touch the divine whenever we participate in that relationship. Furthermore, the creation of beauty is very sustainable. It produces abundance, not scarcity. Look around you. In today’s world, which do you think we need more?
So touch the divine and make sure there are many ways for it to happen within the life of the congregation.
Wayne Gustafson
“God is still speaking.”
The United Church__ of Christ
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