'Muscle-up' Your Brain
Rhoda Kanna
Health Emphasis - Sabbath January 30, 2010
Are the following statements true or false?
“Your brain was hardwired at birth and fully developed in adolescence. You were born with all the neurons you were ever going to get and you can only lose them.” For example, drinking alcohol kills brain cells. The brain cells lost by using this harmful substance can never be replenished. True or False?
FALSE! That’s what we used to think, but praise God, there is hope even for the drunkard who desires a better way of life.
In the late 1990’s we discovered conclusively through advanced technology that brain cells do grow back – in fact, they grow back by the thousands!1 And “these new nerve cells can even migrate to take the place of lost nerve cells.”2 Scientists call this process neurogenesis- the idea of neurons dividing and propagating.
This is good news. In fact, it’s very good news! But you may wonder, “How is this good news for me? I can’t think of anything I’ve done to compromise my supply of brain cells.” Are you sure? Consider these words:
"Every wrong habit which injures the health of the body, reacts in effect upon the mind."3
The truth of the matter is, we all have, in some way, compromised our brain function through intemperate habits: as in making unhealthy food choices, lack of physical exercise, insufficient rest, excessive worry or stress, or watching demoralizing entertainment TV. You’ve heard it said, “use it or lose it,” but perhaps a far more solemn truth for the Seventh-day Adventist Christian is this – misuse or abuse the brain and you allow Satan to crack open the door to the citadel of your body. Repeated entrance widens the crack and before long a habit develops, a character is formed, and a destiny is determined.
But there’s hope – even if you’re 75 years old – there’s good news. Here is what neuropsychiatrist John Ratey says: “Our own free will may be the strongest force directing the development of our brains, and therefore our lives…The adult brain is both plastic and resilient, and always eager to learn. Experiences, thoughts, actions, and emotions actually change the structure of our brains. By viewing the brain as a muscle that can be weakened or strengthened, we can exercise our ability to determine who we become.”4 (italics mine)
Or said another way by physician Jeffrey Schwartz, “With the ability to shape our brains comes the ability to shape our destiny.”5 (italics mine)
These italicized words convey to me that I can actively participate in the improvement of my brain. Science is bursting with new evidence verifying how my daily choices weaken or strengthen my brain productivity. What I eat, what I drink, and how I live and spend my time, enhances or depletes my mental capabilities.
We may not see the results of our choices immediately, but be certain our choices are leaving a physical impression on our brains that may come back to haunt us later. To avert this “haunting” condition we will learn what God’s plan was for mankind when He so “fearfully and wonderfully” created us, as we can read in Psalm 139.
Again, don’t be dismayed if you consider yourself part of the older generation. God gives power until death to make the necessary changes in our lives, because that’s the way He made us.
When I pursue a brand new activity, such as learning Spanish, new neurological pathways are developed. Over the days and weeks as I study Spanish words and their spellings, Spanish becomes part of my memory, actually sculpted or embossed into the gray matter of my brain. It’s time to start thinking of our brain as a muscle. We want to use our brains, not misuse, abuse, or perish the thought, lose them because of inactivity or wrong activity.
The obvious question then is this – Why is it important for us, as Seventh-day Adventists, living in the antitypical Day of Atonement, to understand the complexity, delicacy, and malleability of our brains? In other words, are we interested in health just so that we can live longer in this horribly sinful world? Are we satisfied to simply be a healthier sinner?
The answer should be just as obvious. In fact, there are two reasons, for seeking optimal brain health. Listen carefully to the first reason. “The brain nerves which communicate with the entire system [referring to the body] are the only medium through which Heaven can communicate and affect his inmost life.”6
“The mind controls the whole man. All our actions, good or bad, have their source in the mind. It is the mind that worships God and allies us to heavenly beings.”7
Our minds are our prize possession. The creation of man was God’s crowning act – Why? Because we were made in His image with a frontal lobe larger than any animal created with a brain. God intended to communicate with us. And the only avenue through which He can speak to us is through our frontal lobes. Therefore, it is vitally important that our frontal lobes operate at peak performance.
Here now is the second, and equally important, reason. “The whole Bible is a revelation of the glory of God in Christ. Received, believed, obeyed, it is the great instrumentality in the transformation of character.”8
Transformation of character has everything to do with overcoming sin in preparation for Jesus’ soon coming. David says in Psalm 119:11 – “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” 1 Thess. 5:21 – “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” And Revelation 3:11 – “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
Again I quote Ellen White: “Nothing is so calculated to enlarge the mind and strengthen the intellect as the study of the Bible. No other study will so elevate the soul and give vigor to the faculties as the study of the living oracles.”9 This is how we achieve peak performance of our mental faculties.
So friends, how interested are you in wanting to change your brain and shape your destiny, now and for eternity? Do you want to strengthen your intellect and ennoble your character? God did not create us with a depleting set of brain cells. We are capable of forging new ones. During this probationary time, God is calling us to overcome every besetting sin. Not only has He given us power through His Spirit to overcome, rather, He designed us to succeed when we fortify our minds with His word.
“God's ideal for His children is higher than the highest human thought can reach.”10 God’s plan was not for us to be sabotaged by sinful habits and practices that impede our usefulness to Him in this life and to forfeit our future life with Him. God is infinite. And as He is infinite, we, too, were made for infinite development of mind and character through eternity, to bring glory to Him.
I would like to invite you on an adventure. I’m convicted that scripture must be stored in our minds. We are told that, “none but those who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand through the last great conflict.”11 GC 593 This means that truth must be riveted, hid, embossed, etched, sculpted – where? – in our minds. And God fashioned our brains to make this possible, at any age. And the added personal benefits, in this life, are better developed intellectual skills and invigorated faculties.
Begin today to forge new neurological pathways by storing the words of scripture in your mind. And choose today, through God’s power, to pursue only those habits that will keep your brain – the only avenue through which the Holy Spirit can work – clear, sharp, and unencumbered.
3400 Kecoughtan Road ~ Hampton, Virginia 23661
Church Office ~ 757.722.1221 ~ Church Fax ~ 757.722.7642 ~ Email ~ jeanniehoward@cox.net
Saturday (7th day Sabbath)
Sabbath School 9:30 am ~ 10:40 am
Family Worship 11:00 am ~ 12:00 noon
Prayer Meeting ~ Wednesday 7:00 pm
Referrences:
1 Ratey, John J. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. Page 48.
2 Baldwin, Bernell E. Lifestyle Advantages for the Brain. The Journal of Health and Healing, 28:6, 2008.
3 White, Ellen G. Healthful Living. Page 195.
4 Ratey, John J. A User’s Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain. New York: Vintage Books, 2001. Page 17
5 Schwartz, Jeffery. Mind and Brain.
6 White, Ellen G. Testimonies to the Church Volume 2. Page 347
7 White, Ellen G. Fundamentals of Christian Education. Page 426
8 White, Ellen G. Ministry of Healing. Page 458
9 White, Ellen G. Review and Herald. 9-28-1897
10 White, Ellen G. Testimonies to the Church Volume 8. Page 63.
11 White, Ellen G. The Great Controversy. Page 593
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