Scientific discoveries in
the Twentieth Century require the restructuring of our
understanding the nature of Nature and of human beings.
In simple language the author explains how significant
implications of quantum mechanics, astronomy, biology
and brain physiology form the foundation for new perspectives
to comprehend the meaning of our lives.
The discovery of the evolutionary
development of the human brain is as significant today
as were Galileo’s observations in his day and age.
Relying upon the work of Paul D. MacLean, M.D.,
Senior Research Scientist, N.I.M.H., Brand explains
the implications for human behavior based on the evolutionary
development of our brains. Our skulls contain three
cortices. They are eons apart in their development,
yet each one insists on exercising its own behavioral
priorities. The human predicament stems from the fact
that the brain can be described as having three drivers,
each seeking to steer the same car.
About the Author:
John
Brand is a Purple Heart, Combat Infantry veteran of
World War II. He received his Juris Doctor degree at
Northwestern University and a Master of Theology
and a Doctor of Ministry at Southern Methodist University.
He served as a Methodist minister for 19 years, was
Vice President, Birkman & Associates, Industrial
Psychologists, and concluded his career as Director,
Organizational and Human Resources, Warren-King Enterprises,
an independent oil and gas company. John
is a regular columnist for www.yellowtimes.org
and he is also the author of Rebuilding the Foundations (Dandelion Books).
Excerpt:
“John, can I see you for a
minute?”
Elisa, who asked to see me,
is a rather attractive young lady serving delicious
pastries and wonderful coffee at laMadeleine
in Austin, TX. For the past several years, I have been an almost
daily customer at the bakery for my morning coffee.
I know most of the employees and all call me by my first
name. “Of course,”
I replied.
“Weren’t you,” she began, “once
a minister?” I
nodded my head. “And,” she continued, “haven’t you made
some major changes in your beliefs?”
“Yes, that is true.” “John,” her voice grew a bit shaky, “I have
been a very active Christian.
I taught Sunday school and actively participated
in the life of my church. But for the past few months
I have had some serious questions. I just can’t believe all the things I have been
taught. What is wrong with me?”
“Elisa, there is nothing wrong
with you. Most
of us face a time in life when we ask the question,
‘What’s it all about?’ Regretfully, many folks just sort of shrug their
shoulders, go on with their daily lives, and never find
their own answers. Those
who do search for a meaning for their own lives, rooted
and grounded in more than whims, fancies, and ancient
tales, reach a level of maturity that grows deeper and
more profound with time. Remember Job?
He too challenged God. You are going through
a very natural process, Elisa. You are beginning to fashion your own understanding
about your life and about reality. Remember that ‘the unexamined life is not worth
living.’ You are no longer satisfied to believe just
because someone in authority says that you should believe.
Your doubts are the first step towards maturity
and genuine selfhood.”
This book is my answer to Elisa.
I hope it will prove helpful to the many thousands of
people who are searching to better understand their
own existence. The postmodern era gives us the best tools available
in the entire history of the world to make sense out
of the living of these days.
This is not an easy book to
read. The reason
is not that I use complicated ideas or words or try
to impress you with anything. The difficulty comes in facing new thoughts
that go against everything most of us have been told
since we were knee-high to a grasshopper.
I taught these old ideas to my own children.
For countless generations we have passed on beliefs
more ancient than recorded history about the meaning
of life and God. In
the postmodern era these images have little validity
– if they ever really had any!
I encourage you to question,
to doubt, to examine.
Thomas Jefferson wrote these words to his nephew,
Peter Carr, in a letter dated August 10, 1787,
Shake off all
the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds
are servilely crouched.
Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her
tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of
a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve
of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.
I like Jefferson’s courage.
Many people in the world’s
history have questioned the nature and even the very
existence of God. Many have been excommunicated, tortured, and
even killed by the authorities.
The Establishment never liked people - and does
not like them today - who had the courage to find meaning
for their own lives outside the party line. For the most part, the seekers only had intuition
and feelings to guide them in their quest. It is only since the first decade of the last
Century that objective observations have provided serious
grist for the grinding of new ideas about the meaning
of life and God.
For me, my quest has been an
exciting trip.
Let me say it again, Elisa,
I am not trying to convince you of anything.
I am sharing facts, insights, and observations. Take them or leave them, but do not neglect
the greatest of all adventures: the journey into your
very own self.
History does
not and cannot tell us who first uttered the word “God.” Long before the establishment of religions in
ancient civilizations, someone somewhere lifted his
or her eyes to heaven and grunted a syllable that eventually
became known as the word God.
Of course, it is not important
to know who this person was.
I shall give this unknown individual the name
“Bis.” It is the nickname of the best bison hunter
in the tribe. He
knew the trails and habits of the prey providing essential
nutrients for the clan. Bis was also superb at organizing
the difficult business of the chase. After a successful hunt, the tribe would gather
at the nearest neighborhood bar and hoist one to honor
Bis. But what led Bis to invoke a guttural sound
meaning “God”?
I don’t think it takes much
of an imagination to figure out that the hunt was not
always successful. Problems and difficulties were the constant
companions of the clan.
Hunger was never far away.
Death was a pervasive reality.
Trials and tribulations were the facts of life.
When thousands of years later, the Psalmist cried
out, “My heart is in anguish within me, the terrors
of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms
me.” (Ps. 5:4-5), he was but echoing Bis’s feelings.
Life always has been, is, and probably always will be,
beset with woes.
But Bis had awareness. He knew there was some measure of dependability
in Nature. The
tribe might be hungry but somewhere, someday, before
it was too late, there would be another bison to kill.
Babies died, but other babies were born.
The life of the tribe would go on.
Disease and broken bones were a fact of life.
But somehow in the nature of things, some people
got well, and some bones were mended. Bis felt there was a power controlling life
that was above and beyond Bis’s understanding or that
of any of his friends.
He grunted the name of that power, and the word
that came out was “God.”
Maybe, thought Bis, there is
a way to influence this power to benefit Bis and his
tribe? At least, some interpretations given to the
Lascaux cave paintings point in that
direction. Some
anthropologists surmise that Bis and his friends thought
that by painting potential prey on cave walls, they
gained power over the animals.
Similar pictures are found in rock paintings
in Africa, Australia, Indonesia, Russia, and other places. There is even a painting at Tassili N’Ajjer,
Africa, dated about 7,500 years ago, showing a god-like
figure surrounded by women raising their hands in supplication.
It is presumed to be a fertility cult image. To implore the gods to meet our needs seems
to be an age-old human practice.
Dismayed by the sorrowful circumstances
of life, the Bises around the world responded to a force,
unknown to them, and implored that force to protect
them, to make life safer, and to bestow blessings upon
them. They uttered
magical words and brought sacrifices, hoping that the
gods would smile upon them.
Out of needs, trials, and tribulations
the idea of God was developed.
Have circumstances really changed much in the
intervening thousands of years?
