Over the holidays, Rev. AndreaGrace read The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life by Dr. Lisa Miller. Researchers have found that being spiritual - which is different than being relious - has an actual physical impact on our brain. On the Feast of the Epiphany, when Christians remember the Wise Men finding Baby Jesus, Rev. AndreaGrace shared about Dr. Miller's journey and its affirmation of Spirit-led prayer life. Watch Rev. AndreaGrace's reflection or read it below. BONUS: Rev. AndreaGrace ends with a guided meditation.
Epiphany
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany.
We often think about the wise men traveling with their animals and gifts to find Jesus. But how often do we stop and think about their journey?
What led them to notice and follow the star?
Were there other people who were invited to go but didn’t?
Did people think these wise scholars were crazy?
Did they ever want to turn back?
How did they recognize the Divine One in a newborn baby in a little town called Bethlehem?
So many questions…
And probably so many synchronicities or coincidences that these seekers recognized along the way.
We celebrate this Feast of the Epiphany 12 days after the Feast of Christmas…
Reminding us of the 12 tribes of Israel….
And the 12 traditional apostles….
Epiphany – meaning a revelation, in this case, a revelation of the Divine who became human
The Awakened Brain
During these 12 days between Christmas and the Epiphany, I was making a different kind of journey with a book called The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest For An Inspired Life by Dr. Lisa Miller.
The book opens with Dr. Miller walking into a room to receive the much-anticipated results of a large study she and her team conducted. They ran MRIs on women, their children and grandchildren – some of whom were clinically depressed and some who were not. The subjects were asked: How personally important is religion or spirituality to you?
Are you ready for what they found…
The Findings...
The brains of people who considered themselves spiritual were “healthier and more robust than the low-spiritual brain. And the high-spiritual brain was thicker and stronger in exactly the same regions that weaken and wither in depressed brains. The room was utterly silent. “it’s not all what we expected to see” said Ravi," [one of Dr. Miller’s closest and most treasured colleagues.] (p. 6 & 7)
It’s kinda like some scholars finding the Messiah in Bethlehem – not at all what they expected to see. Dr. Miller’s findings were an epiphany!
Dr. Miller's Journey
So how did Dr. Miller get to that study and those awe-some findings. After the introductory chapters, Dr. Miller retraces her journey. She takes us back to grad school, when she was interning on a mental health floor of a hospital. Some patients asked what was being done to celebrate Yom Kippur. The manager hadn’t planned anything so Dr. Miller pulled our her prayer book and led a service in the floor’s kitchen. Those who attended had a remarkable transformation and were catapulted in their recovery. Dr. Miller was filled with curiosity and wonder.
Throughout the book, Dr. Miller introduces us to many “guides” on her journey – patients of all ages who were healing through spiritual experiences; researchers who were shedding light in the field; and leaders who were using these principles in their business and personal lives.
I think this book is a must-read for all of us who are focusing on being spiritual.
Being Spiritual - Different than Religious
By “spiritual,” we mean that we believe in a higher power, a life-giving energy, a God that is loving, supportive and a guide. Spiritual people believe that we can experience two-way communication with this life-giving energy. Being spiritual also implies that we are focused on being one with others and creation. Being spiritual is different than being religious. While both spiritual and religious people believe in a power greater than ourselves, our approaches are different. Religious people are often more focused on rules and ways of doing – rather than ways of being. Spiritual people are seekers, like the Wise Men, searching for meaning and the path that is meant for them to take. I would offer that Jesus Christ was spiritual. He let go of the rules of Judaism that didn’t serve people, that were not loving and kind. He communicated with his Abba God… and all of creation. Here in the BeLoved Community - we are spiritual within the Catholic culture, letting go of the rules and practices that are not divisive and not life-giving.
The Spirituality Gene
Some amazing research Dr. Miller lays out:
- Each of us is born with a gene that is tied to both depression and spirituality. Being spiritual prevents depression. And, depression can be a portal into spirituality. The periods of adolescence and mid-life are important times in the development of depression and spirituality.
- Scans of the same area of the brain can show whether someone is depressed or spiritual. Spiritual people have red, awakened areas while depressed people have depressed areas. Also, spiritual people have connections throughout their brain that flow more fluidly.
- Spirituality is 1/3 genetic and 2/3 practice. Part of us is born with an inclination towards spirituality and a lot of spiritualty is cultivated. This can be likened to artists, musicians or any successful career person.
3 Ways to Practice Spirituality
Dr. Miller lays out 3 main ways to practice spirituality:
1. With an Awakened Awareness –We do this through cultivating awareness of the spiritual world. Messages can come to us through nature, spiritual guides – both human and divine, dreams, synchronous experiences or coincidences, visualizations, guided meditations, and other prayer experiences.
2. With Awakened Connections – recognizing the divine connections we share with other people and with nature. Love begets love. In this section of the book, I found the proof that prayer focused on lovingkindness works! Dr. Miller lays out some studies:
· When we are praying in a community like we do here in the BeLoved community…. our neuropathways actually synch - and its easier for new people who enter to get on that wavelength with us. In other words, our spirituality is contagious! Also, after having prayed in community, our neuropathways retain their awakened state for longer. This is all different than praying alone.
· The power of touch does actually heal. It leads to a deeper understanding between the two people, the lessening of pain and creating a state of universal love… In other’s words, kisses really do make the boo-boos better!
· Finally - love’s healing power has a direct physical effect on the recipient… even if it’s done remotely – like when we pray for someone. On one study, healers selected someone to pray for. The prayer recipients’ brains were scanned. 10 out of 11 times, at the exact time that the healer sent the recipient a prayer intention, the patients’ brains were activated. WOW! Our prayers do have a physical impact!
3. Awakened heart – when we live with an awakened heart, our relationships are transformed and we all heal. Dr. Miller writes: Life and lab were revealing the same thing: that we’re bonded in a network of love, that life itself holds us in a loving embrace. P 209
Rev. AndreaGrace's Mantra Leads to a Thicker Brain!
You may know my mantra: God, may we know your love more intimately and share it more abundantly… Dr. Miller calls this Relational Spirituality – a sacred, transcendent love that ignites us in service to one another. P 222 Drumroll please…. Relational spirituality actually thickens our brain and protects against depression!
So – we are strengthening our brain as we live out this prayer: May we know God’s love more intimately and share it more abundantly,
Improving Our Health By Awakening
In conclusion on the book, Dr. Miller writes: Our individual health and flourishing depend on our choice to awaken…. We are all on a path of awakening, again and again, facing new challenges, closing and opening doors, moving ever and always toward greater awakening.
The BeLoved Community
In the BeLoved Community, we are following Jesus way of love - integrating the best of our Catholic culture – and letting go of the rules that divide. It has been my commitment at every BeLoved prayer service to assure that people have the opportunity for a spiritual experience – something beyond the standard prayers we offer. In reading this book, I realize that in doing so, we are helping people cultivate an awakened, healthier brain….
Our very name – BeLoved is what our community is all about –
Come, meet the Divine Beloved,
Be loved by God and others and
then go be love in our world.
Holy Pause
I want to pause now and invite you to reflect on one thing you want to carry with you from today…. Or one thing you want to do because of what you heard…
Spiritual Practice: The Holiday Council
Finally, I want to invite you to a spiritual practice called “The Holiday Council” that Dr. Miller learned from Gary and Colleen Weaver. This amazing couple spent their life intervening in the court system for young people who had suffered horrible abuse, became abusers themselves AND sat before judges three or more times. The Weavers had an 85% success rate of rehabilitation. The Holiday Council is one of their core practices.
Holiday Council
I invite you to get comfortable.
Close your eyes or cast your gaze down low.
Take a deep breath of Spirit.
Set before you a table
To your table, invite anyone living or deceased who truly has your best interest in mind.
With people sitting at your table, ask each guest if they love you.
And now to your table, invite your higher self, your soul. The part of you that is much greater than anything you’ve done or not done, anything you have or don’t have.
Ask your eternal, higher self, your soul if you love you.
And now to your table, invite your Higher Power, whoever or whatever it is to you.
Ask if your Higher Power loves you.
And now with all of those gathered with you, ask:
What do I need to know right now?
What do you need to tell me?
Thank the people for gathering and their love, and come back to this space when you are ready.
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