Dear Church Family and Friends,
As some of you heard at our Ash Wednesday service, I have recently been listening to an audio book called Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom. In this book written by a neuropsychologist and a neurologist, the authors talk about how the human brain is biased toward focusing on the negative. They note that the brain “preferentially scans for, registers, stores, recalls, and reacts to unpleasant experiences…it’s like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones.”
If we wish to improve our mental health, the antidote to this bias is to internalize the positive by taking note of the good around us, by savoring pleasant experiences, and by thoroughly “absorbing the emotions, sensations, and thoughts” that accompany these experiences. The authors note that a sense of healing can occur as positive feelings and memories counteract and soothe negative ones. For instance, when a supportive person provides “comfort, encouragement, and closeness,” it can infuse our mental processing of a difficult experience with a neurological balm.
It can be difficult to overcome the inclinations of our brain’s wiring. The authors, for example, note a poignant case in which humans often manage to turn a positive into a negative. This occurs when we receive a compliment, but instead of allowing ourselves to absorb the feeling of appreciation, we begin to think, “Oh, I’m not really that good a person. Maybe they’ll find out I’m fraud.”
During our advocacy day in Olympia, our church was paid a number of compliments for our fast. My first response to such kind words was to minimize any sense of significance or special regard. With a dismissive wave of the hand, I wanted to say, “Oh, it’s no big deal,” but then I realized what I was doing, and I said to myself, “Brooks, why shouldn’t we feel really good about what we are doing. Social justice work is difficult stuff, and here we are being complimented for it. You might as well let it soak in.” The day after our trip to Olympia I received a wonderful email from a minister in Seattle named Vincent Lachina. In it, he wrote, “I was so impressed and inspired when we were told yesterday about the 24-hour fast some from your congregation were doing in support of food assistance care. For me, it was the high point of the day, and I think it motivated other activists to think about how personal some of these legislative decisions are. All I can say is ‘BLESS YOU!’“
When I asked for permission to share his email, Lachina responded, “If I were there, I would stand and loudly applaud and whistle. This is a remarkable example of Christ in the world doing what is just and right.” I would encourage all of you to let these compliments sink in. We deserve to feel good about our accomplishments. I certainly do not think God wants us to feel miserable about what we have done. Imagine how hard it would be to end child hunger if every child advocate felt glum and dismal along the way, even as others pat their backs. Instead, allow the appreciation of others to give us strength and encouragement for our future endeavors and inevitable successes.
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Brooks