Common Grounds - Using 5% of your Brain

Scientists tell us we only use 5% of our brains. But if they only used 5% of their brains to reach that conclusion, then why should we believe them? – Joseph Palm, Starbucks Customer from Oshkosh, WI


I don’t remember driving home one day. It was a familiar road and I was lost in my thoughts. It came as a shock when I found myself sitting in my driveway with no recollection of the drive home. How did I get here? Did I remember to stop at all the stop signs? I don’t recall making any of the turns or stops on my five-mile trip. I must have been using less than 5% of my brain that day.

The oddest part was that I wasn’t sure what had me so preoccupied. I don’t recall thinking anything earthshattering or mind-boggling. I had just checked out for a while. Maybe I was abducted by aliens.

Are you ever so focused on your thoughts that you forget to look around and see all that surrounds you? Are you ever so wrapped up in your own circumstances that you are blind to all that life has to offer?

I took quite a detour in getting here today. I doubt anyone who knew me growing up would have predicted I’d be writing a web-log, mixing my thoughts with bible scripture and hoping to share the word of God through a speaking ministry. You see, we weren’t particularly religious growing up. Yet, nothing could have prepared my parents for the shock of my announcement at age 14 that I was an atheist.

I remember my moms tears at the kitchen table that night. She was so upset at my pronouncement. I was purely scientific. If she couldn’t prove the existence of God with math and science, I wasn’t interested. She pleaded with me. “Couldn’t you at least be agnostic?”

I like hard evidence. Proof offers reassurance. I check Consumer Reports before buying a major appliance. It’s a big expense. I don’t want to make a mistake and get stuck with a lemon. There is comfort in knowing their researchers have tested and evaluated the features of the top selling models and determined the best. They do the work for me and spoon feed me their picks. I can skate by using only 5% on my brain.

Facts, figures, and statistics are everywhere you look. The news reports are filled with them: gas prices, stock averages and the latest poll numbers. My college Market Research professor taught me an amazing thing about statistics; you can make the numbers say anything you want. Make a subtle change of words on a questionnaire and your results skew dramatically. Massage the numbers and twist the words and suddenly everything is clear as mud. What is the truth? Who can you trust?

I can’t prove to you with scientific accuracy how I got home that day any more than I can rationalize how as an atheist, I became a Christian. I must have used more than 5% of my brain. I swept the cobwebs from underused parts of my brain and looked beyond the easy explanations. I was seeking something more and my mind and heart were open.

Then something really crazy happened. My son was born. I held him in my arms and stared in amazement. The mathematics of it all were staggering. This child was not a random arrangement of cells. I had studied probability and there was no way that natural selection could have created human life without a lot of help. Clearly God’s fingerprints were all over my son. It was unmistakable. At that moment I took what philosopher Søren Kierkeaards termed “the leap of faith.” I embraced Charlie as all the proof I needed.

Job asks, “where does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell?” (Job 28:20). I believe it comes from beyond the 5% of the brain most people engage. It is a truth fed by the Spirit and pumped straight into the heart. It lies within all of us and is as vital as our pulse. It is a gift of love that “comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5) We only need to acknowledge and accept Him.

I still struggle with the discrepancies between science and God’s law. I accept that there are concepts beyond my grasp. I may never understand or be able to explain. Still, I continue to ask questions and seek truth.

“The peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:7, 9)