Delicately suspended
between the fragility of birth and the suffocating imminence of death, human
beings are faced with the enormous responsibility of making meaning out of
their existence. What does it mean to be alive? What is actually worth living
for? Furthermore, who can I trust to tell me what’s most
important? How can I discern if their guidance is best? While I wish that I
could answer all of these important questions for you and provide you with some
manner of existential peace, I cannot. However, the following is a brief
investigation of the idea of “meaning making” itself. I’m hoping that examining
the nature and process of how we organize and make sense of the world will
provide helpful clues on our common journey of understanding what life is all
about.
What follows is a bit
of neuroscience, a dash of theology, and, hopefully, a halfway competent
attempt at integration.
A Bit
of Neuroscience
Up until the 1960’s it
was generally believed that the post-childhood brain was essentially immutable.
Once it developed (for better or for worse) you were set that way for life. Sure
you had some dissenters from this theory, such as William James who, in his
1890 publication The Principles of
Psychology, argued that: “Organic matter, especially nervous tissue, seems endowed with a very extraordinary degree of plasticity” (Plasticity here referring to the ability of neural pathways to remap). Nevertheless, the majority of 20th century psychologists proposed a much more static model of the brain.
However, as more research on this topic was done, it became clear that James may have actually been on to something. Several studies in the 1960’s showed that the brain was in fact capable of “rewiring” itself after significant brain trauma (such as a stroke) had occurred. A number of the people who participated in these studies eventually regained a remarkable degree of dexterity and brain functioning after their physically traumatic experiences. This has led psychotherapists such as Babette Rothschild to conclude, “The human brain is, for the most part, malleable – programmable and reprogrammable – in its organization. It is highly responsive to external influences.”[1]
This exciting phenomenon (called “neuroplasticity”) has gained quite a following in recent years among doctors and researchers alike. You can even see a popular manifestation of the “neuroplasticity” infatuation with the Lumosity website (www.lumosity.com) where exercises are “engineered to train a variety of core cognitive functions.”
All right, so what does all this brain plasticity mumbo-jumbo have to do with meaning making?” Well, let me see if I can make a couple of connections for you.
However, as more research on this topic was done, it became clear that James may have actually been on to something. Several studies in the 1960’s showed that the brain was in fact capable of “rewiring” itself after significant brain trauma (such as a stroke) had occurred. A number of the people who participated in these studies eventually regained a remarkable degree of dexterity and brain functioning after their physically traumatic experiences. This has led psychotherapists such as Babette Rothschild to conclude, “The human brain is, for the most part, malleable – programmable and reprogrammable – in its organization. It is highly responsive to external influences.”[1]
This exciting phenomenon (called “neuroplasticity”) has gained quite a following in recent years among doctors and researchers alike. You can even see a popular manifestation of the “neuroplasticity” infatuation with the Lumosity website (www.lumosity.com) where exercises are “engineered to train a variety of core cognitive functions.”
All right, so what does all this brain plasticity mumbo-jumbo have to do with meaning making?” Well, let me see if I can make a couple of connections for you.
A person is born with
(at least) two essential features: 1) a physically open and self-organizing
processor and 2) a prewiring to relate to other persons.[2] Right from the get go human beings are
interacting with the world around them. They are seeing colors and shapes. They
are hearing sounds. They are feeling textures, etc. All of these phenomena are
being assimilated into their brain and they are fighting to make sense of it
(i.e. meaning making). They are essentially attempting the process of
self-organizing – putting the world together into a complex whole.
As this
self-organizing process continues, a narrative begins to form. Over time, a child
develops a story about how the world works and how to make sense of her various
life experiences. She understands the “meaning of the world” according to this
story. Often times, these stories can prove to be deficient in various ways,
but the point is that these narratives exist.
The reality of
neuroplasticity actually provides great hope here. For example, if a person
happens to have poorly self-organized the world and concludes that
extraordinary actions such as eating glass are appropriate and useful to their
flourishing, they can eventually lay down new neural pathways that conclude
otherwise. Their patterns/habits of thinking are not permanently set in stone
(or perhaps, “in brain”) – it can learn to make “new” meaning.
Ok, so we now know
that the brain can effectively be retrained. We can re-pattern our neural
pathways. Hold on to that idea, we’re going to come back to it when we get to
the section below on integration. But for now, let’s briefly examine what one
narrative (i.e. story of life) has to say about changing the way we think.
A Dash
of Christian Theology
Even a cursory read of
Scripture suggests that a rigorous “life-overhaul” is in order for the
Christian convert. Having been called out of darkness in marvelous light (1
Peter 2:9), one typically retains a lot of “residual darkness.” This is the
reality behind Paul’s direction for us to put off the old man and put on the
new (Eph. 4:22). We’re daily retraining our minds (Rom. 12:2) to understand the
world according to the new reality of God’s Kingdom.
Furthermore, our
formation into Christlikeness appears to never be a fait accompli in this life.
Jesus instructs his disciples to daily
take up their cross and follow him (Luke 9:23). This seems to suggest to me
that as long as there are “days” we must press on towards Christ. Paul reminds
us that God, who began a good work within us, will carry it on to completion until
the blessed day of the Lord (Phil. 1:6). Again, this suggests that the process
of transformation is a life-long endeavor.
If this truly is the
case – if we really have an on-going, “mind”-changing transformation – then it
seems to me that advances in neuroscience might be able to help us understand
how some of this process works. Now, before I talk through some integration attempts
below, I want to make it clear that I do not want to minimize the reality of
the Spirit’s work in our transformation into Christlikeness. Surely his
presence and power are the efficient cause of all our transformation (Romans
15:16). Nevertheless, I am interested in exploring the phenomenological human
experience of transformation and it seems that neuroscience/meaning making can
offer some scintillating food for thought.
So, bearing that in
mind, let’s now turn to some attempts at integration.
Attempting
Integration
First, it strikes me
that Christians can easily become confused. They are torn between two stories:
1) the Divine narrative and 2) the World narrative (I recognize that there are
a multiplicity of stories in contrast to the Divine narrative, but for sake of
convenience I’ve reduced them to the general category of “the World”). Who wins
in the fight? What do I do when my life experiences seem to make better sense
in the World narrative? This is where I think pastors and Christian leaders
need to do a better job of translating human experience according to the Divine
narrative. I’m convinced that God’s story can account for the plethora of human
experiences, but this variegated reality is often flattened out for ministerial
purposes, etc. It’s imperative that Christian leaders give their people the
requisite tools for the process of meaning making. Thankfully, even if these
tools haven’t been appropriated, all is not lost. Remember, the brain is
capable of adapting and changing (thanks neuroplasticity!), so regardless of
the past, the focus should always be on integrating/organizing each person’s
personal story along the arch of the Divine story.
Second, I think that the
Holy Spirit, as an agent, brings a new dimension of personal interaction to the
fore. Remember, I said that human beings are equipped with two basic things
when they’re born: 1) a self-organizing process and 2) a prewiring to relate to
other persons. Christians, having been restored to relationship with God, have
another person to interact with who can influence their meaning making process:
the Holy Spirit. We are not left to our own devices. Rather, Jesus sends us the
Spirit to guide us into all truth (John 16:13). I think understanding the process
of meaning making as an interpersonal reality compels us deeper into a
relationship with the Spirit (as well as other persons) to make sense of all of
life.
Finally, I think understanding
meaning making as a developmental process helps Christians set reasonable goals
for transformation into Christlikeness. The Romans 12 injunction to be
transformed by the renewing of our minds is an on-going reality that will take
time. Our entire world needs to be interpreted according to a different story –
that doesn’t happen overnight. So, never stop striving to like Jesus, but don’t
be overly discouraged when incorrect (sinful?) thought patterns that you’ve habituated
for a long time seem to persist. You’ve spent a long time interpreting the
world one way. Give yourself time to reimagine the world the way God sees it.
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