OUR AMAZING BRAIN

I was thinking the other day – about thinking.

How do we think? How can the cells of our brain enable us to craft thoughts and ideas? How can we then turn these concepts into spoken and written words? How can we work and invent and laugh and cry? How can we love and grieve and hope?

Animals have brains, but they can’t do what humans can. This is only one of the many differences that place us far above the mammals and other creatures. Man truly was created in the image of God!

We were once told that we only use a small percentage of our brain power, but more recent studies show that we utilize most of our gray matter in daily activities, and even while sleeping.

But sadly this great capacity for thought can be used for evil as well as good. Words can either hurt or heal. Writing can be constructive or destructive [including tweets.] Movies can contribute to society or demean our culture, as way too many have done.

Thankfully, we can decide what we read and watch and therefore we can control what goes into our brains. Because this brain power we have includes a tremendous amount of stored memories, the input from the past affects our thinking in the future.

This is especially important for children. What our schools teach; what parents teach; what TV and movies teach – all affect the lives or our kids and therefore the future of our nation.

This is why the Bible reminds us to think about what is good and wholesome and positive and healthy, and why we must meditate on God’s Word and encourage one another as often as we can.

So, as you think about thinking, think about what you think you should add to your memory. Think about what you should add to the memory of others. Think about using all this thinking power for the good of our communities our churches and especially our families.

COPYRIGHT 2018 BY CARL E GUSTAFSON