In this issue, I recap my talk given on Feb 24^th on Neuroscience, Decision-Making, Prayer and Silence, St Ignatius, and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Portions of this essay are quoted from Savary’s book on de Chardin (see below) and from the online articles cited at the end.

As Psalm 139 says we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made.” That assertion covers every portion of us, including our brains. Scientists are only beginning to discover how the various brain parts work together, communicate, compete for our attention, and guide us not only toward survival but also toward becoming our highest and best selves. On Sunday, February 24^th I gave a talk in which I shared what I had learned about brain science, prayer and silence, and decision making.

I became interested in this constellation of things through a book on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a 20th-century theologian, and scientist who faithfully followed the teachings and spiritual exercises of the 16^th Spanish monastic St Ignatius. One purpose of the Ignatian spiritual exercises is to help people who are trying to discern and make decisions. The book, “The New Spiritual Exercises in the Spirit of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin” features a section on how to make decisions by praying through or with five different parts of the human brain.

The book’s author, Louis Savary, identifies five different brain regions we can engage in prayer, moving from the evolutionarily oldest and most primitive (or animalistic) to the more recent and most developed:

+ The Brain Stem—governs our attraction (movement toward something) and repulsion (movement away from something). We share this region with reptiles and fish. It controls basic survival functions like breathing and hunger. The logic of the brain stem has been called kinesthetic logic.

+ The Limbic System—our “fight, flight, or freeze” center. This system is home to several structures, among them the amygdala, which has been called the brain’s “internal hypochondriac”. The amygdala perceives threats, produces fear responses and pays attention to social cues, including whether or not someone is “like” us. A good scripture to keep in mind to balance the necessary but dualistic nature of the amygdala is Galatians 3: In Christ, there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female—all are one in Christ Jesus.

+ The Left Hemisphere or Cortex—governs linear thinking, language, reasoning, and tangible things. The cortexes—especially the prefrontal cortex—are the part of the brain that deals with executive function. The left and right cortexes are evolutionarily more recent. The cortexes plan, deliberate, decide, and are the seat of the willpower.

+ The Right Hemisphere or Cortex—engages non-linear thinking, intangible things, relational and systemic thinking.

+ The Whole Brain—(Savary’s term) engages in destiny logic, pondering the questions: What is my calling? What is my destiny?

Most of us are taught from early on that sound decisions come from a cool (or, emotionless) head. The last thing one would want would be the intrusion of emotions in the methodical process of decision making. And yet, researchers have shown that patients with damage to the part of the prefrontal cortex that processes emotions (or, in a way, “listens” to them) often struggle with making even routine decisions. They’ve also learned that patients with injuries to parts of the limbic system, an ancient group of brain structures important in generating emotions, also struggle with making decisions. So it appears we need both primitive emotion and more evolved executive reasoning functions in making a decision.

We’ve also been taught to dismiss or minimize the input from our gut, or “gut feelings”. We shouldn’t be so quick to do so, however, for scientists have found that our guts harbor a vast ecosystem of bacteria and that those bacteria speak to the brain via an immense neural network. In fact, scientists say that there are more neurons in our guts than in our spinal cords! These gut neurons carry information to the brain that affects not only our mood but our decision making. It’s no wonder then that some scientists are calling the gut the “second brain.” If we can cultivate emotional self-awareness—i.e. being aware of our emotions in real time and asking ourselves where those feelings may have come from—we can be more sophisticated users of our gut impressions.

When considering making a decision between two (or more) choices, it is possible to engage each of the five brain regions in prayer, one at a time. One might begin with one’s brain stem, thanking it for doing its work of guiding us toward or away from something. Then, suggests Savary, in silence propose your choice to your brain stem. Picture yourself actually living in that choice. Where in your body do you feel pleasure or pain? What does it feel like? Pleasure can include exhilaration, contentment, peace, etc. Pain can include boredom, annoyance, fear, etc. Make note of what you feel.

A second prayer can be made to the limbic system—the survival mechanism in the brain; the fight, flight, or freeze dictator. Savary says the limbic system is stimulated by perceptions and emotions that relate to one’s survival. Interestingly, when the limbic system out-shouts the other brain systems it can lead to compulsive or phobic behaviors, so prayerful interaction with the limbic system is best done as a dialogue: saying to the limbic system, “Show me the images and feelings related to my choices. Guide me as to whether or not I should fight—or persevere—or flight—walk away—or freeze—wait quietly, for now, is not the right time.”

A third prayer can engage the left cortex or hemisphere—the part of the brain that is motivated to find ways to manage and control the tangible world around us. To do this it uses language and linear reasoning, which we normally refer to as logic. The spiritual exercise to engage this part of the brain is one many of us have done before: write your choice at the top of a page and list pros and cons in two columns beneath it. Use a separate piece of paper for each choice you are considering in making your decision. Savary cautions that this is not a simple matter of God wanting us to choose the option with the most plusses; rather, this is simply one more facet of brain-based decision making.

A fourth prayer can engage the right cortex or hemisphere—the part of the brain that deals in pictures and structures, in intangibles, in systems thinking. It’s also the brain part that assesses the consequences of a choice. Prayerfully consider the two choices, one at a time. Ask such questions as: What will the future consequences of my choice be? How will it affect my relationships with others? How will affect my health and well-being? How will it affect my family, community, and the planet? Savary suggests going back and reviewing the results of your prayers with the brain stem, the limbic system, and the left hemisphere in light of the right hemisphere’s input. And he reminds us that this still is not the full picture.

Destiny logic uses the entirety of the human brain in a fashion that’s described as neither linear or non-linear but “beyond linear”. Destiny logic considers life choices (schooling, marriage, vocation, etc.) through the lenses of life purpose, destiny, how God calls one to use one’s life and gifts. The fifth prayer is to carefully compare your choice(s) with your destiny using the tool of discernment. Discernment is attentiveness to the voice of God in making choices, and that voice can speak to us through other people, books, experiences, coincidences, nature, and so on. God speaks through limitless means to those who make the space to listen. And yet God never makes decisions for us.

St Ignatius suggested that we can begin to discern our destiny or calling by considering our choices and asking which one brings us the most inner peace. Louis Savary suggests selecting one of our choices and living in it for 2-3 days—just live as though you had actually made a decision and gone with that choice. During those days, record your feelings in a journal. Then, take a day or two break, free from decision-making. After that break, select the second choice and spend a few days living in it. Again, record your feelings in a journal.

Savary says that if there is a clear difference between the feelings of inner peace arising from the choices, then it’s an indication of a push in the direction of your destiny. But, he adds, it’s only a push.

Once you make the choice both you and God, says Savary, must work within that choice. Your choice has now become part of the given both you and God must work with.

There are two more things that are essential to this five-prayer model of brain-based decision making. The first is the importance of engaging a spiritual director to walk with you through this process. St Ignatius intended his Spiritual Exercises to be carried out under the guidance or companionship of a spiritual director, and that’s the way de Chardin seems to have used them. In making big or life-impacting decisions, the help of a spiritual director can be a tremendous blessing.

The second component of good decision making is silence. Researchers have found that as little as fifteen minutes of mindfulness meditation can help us make smarter choices. Our brains need a break from the constant noise and stimulation that bombards us, and scientists have found that not only does noise affect our health (by increasing stress hormones) but silence can offset or heal the negative effects of noise. So, trying to make a good decision in the midst of clamor (and elevated stress hormones) is far from ideal in that it taxes our brains and may lead to poorer decisions.

Silence, prayer, the guidance of a spiritual director, better understanding of how our brains work, a little imagination in praying, and some respect for our various brain structures and their evolutionary functions: these all contribute to better decision making. This five-prayer method is clearly too cumbersome to use when choosing what to cook for dinner but can be of great help in decisions that affect our vocations, cherished relationships, personal health, our community, and our life’s calling or purpose.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201505/the-neuroscience-making-decision

https://upliftconnect.com/science-says-silence-is-vital-for-our-brains/

https://hbr.org/2006/01/decisions-and-desire

The New Spiritual Exercises in the Spirit of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, by Louis Savary, 2010, Paulist Press

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-fallible-mind/201701/the-pit-in-your-stomach-is-actually-your-second-brain

https://www.fastcompany.com/3022954/the-neuroscience-of-trusting-your-gut  [link from this doc appears broken; to read the article, copy and paste URL into your browser]