Consciousness and Meditation

The US NEW & World Report magazine for October23, 2006 has an interesting (albeit disturbing) article in it entitled: Is There Room for the Soul? In it, the scientists from Salk Institute for Biological Studies suggest that the consciousness that separates us from animals is only a way to explain what we have already decided using our more evolutionary factors. The author of the article correctly assesses the situation: "There is something troubling about reducing consciousness to the operations of a 3-pound chunk of wrinkled brain tissue. ... Deny or attempt to disprove the immaterial character of the mind, and you elicit some of the same passions that have animated the culture wars over evolution in the classroom, exposing the deep divide between hard-core religious fundamentalists on one side and the equally hard-core scientific fundamentalists on the other." If we are simply a series of electronic pulses in the brain then why would the psalmist write, "...for I delight in your commands because I love them. I lift up my hands to your commands which I love, and I meditate on your decrees." (119:47-48). We are both material and immaterial. Both parts of our bodies are to be in subjection to God and His will. Both are involved in the service and celebration of the King of kings. The creation of man in the image of God suggests that we can relate to Him, He being a spirit being and we being spiritual beings. All this discussion reminds me that we must be careful not to allow the "discoveries" of science to drive the train. Is that anti-enlightenment? Perhaps. Or perhaps it is only a warning that the stuff of faith is not always that concrete. Think on these things (with both material and immaterial portions of your person), Mike