Faith Venture

When we study scriptures or other spiritual writing, we participate in an important spiritual practice.

Sometimes we cannot find meaning in what Jesus, or James, or Peter, or Paul are telling us.

We sit. We think. We might even sweat (especially if we are working on a Master’s degree).

Close the book. Step away from the desk. Leave the library.

Walk outside. Sit by a pond. Drop down and perform five pushups or hold plank pose for a minute. Climb some stairs.

Insight will come.

As humans, we like to believe that we are ruled by reason, but the truth is that our imagination and senses affect us much more than we realize.

Descartes corrupted Western thought with his maxim, “Cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore, I am). His thinking removed the spirit from Western thought. People became captivated that we are all rational beings.

Wrong.

Neurologist and neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, wrote about his research in Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain.

Emotions play a crucial role in our outlook, decisions, relationships. How often have you made a major purchase impulsively only later justifying it with reason? Let me guess—too often.

We first recognize and deal with our emotions and then think. Do not fool yourself.