Walking in the Valley A weekly column for those who live and walk in Silicon Valley by Barbara Dahlgren

About once a year or so a news magazine comes out with a cover story on God, religion, or spirituality. The latest cover that caught my eye was the May 7 edition of Newsweek, God and the Brain. The actual Sharon Begley article title is Religion and the Brain and the premise is that "in the new field of neurotheology, scientists seek the biological basis of spirituality. Is God all in our heads?" Evidently, neurotheolgy is "the study of neurobiology of religion and spirituality." They are trying to find out what the brain does when people have that out of body, mystical, transcendental, epiphytic, or euphoric experience. Scientific studies are being made and books like Zen and the Brain and Religion in Mind are being written, not by spiritual gurus out to get a following but by scientists, trying to discover and understand the brain's "spirituality circuit."

This article states that science has long "neglected religion despite its centrality to the mental lives of so many people." But the study of neurotheology "represents a radical shift in that attitude." The bottom line is that God just won't go away, will He? The very fact that news magazines choose to make these articles their cover stories tells us that spirituality or religion is real and on the minds or "brains" of people in our world.

However this particular study makes a common error that I am glad to see was pointed out in Kenneth Woodward's article in the same magazine, Faith Is More Than A Feeling. "The chief mistake these neurotheologians make is to identify religion with specific experiences and feelings." And unfortunately, this is a common mistake that a lot of people make. They want that "good, good" feeling not realizing that such "highs" can be deceiving. Just ask anyone who's been addicted to drugs. The Bible says there is a way that seems right, but isn't. (Proverbs 14:12) They confuse "spirituality with religion." Not all Christian endeavors should be evaluated by how good you feel but perhaps how good you make others feels. It's that old Biblical "love your neighbor as yourself" principle that we've heard so much about. It's true that sometimes doing a good deed for someone else will give you a warm and cozy feeling inside, but the fact is that our motive for doing it should be concern for the other person, not so that we can feel good. This article notes an interesting fact. "To this day, Catholic candidates for sainthood are measured by their charity, not their mystical experiences. Similarly, Buddhist bodhisattvas are distinguished by their compassion not their spiritual athleticism." Point well taken.

I like the idea that science is finally recognizing the significance of God in our lives. It shows me that God indeed is alive and well. But in order to really have a relationship with Him we will have to learn to give to others, not just look for ways to get that "good, good" feeling for ourselves.

©May 2001

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