The Bible and Brain Healing

The Bible has a lot to say about healing the brain. Unfortunately it can be easily missed by those who misunderstand the way Jewish people communicated in pictures/visuals. We in the west tend to think in parts as if the mind comprehends things better than pictures. We like analysis better not entire concepts.

For example, in the Creation Account, the Bible uses vivid pictures to convey the processes God used. It talks about light, water, darkness, the Spirit moving like a bird, green gardens and so forth.

It is simple and wholistic. "In the beginning, God Created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void..."

Had a western scientist written the Bible is might say, "In the beginning, the molecules came together in a millionth of a millisecond and a great explosion expanded to a billion miles instantly.

Do you see any difference?  Scientists now communicate about the brain in similar ways. The brain has billions of cells and synapses that communicate at the speed of light.

the Bible talks about images and feelings with terms like heart, soul, and guts to say the same things.

"Her leads me in green pastures, beside still waters..." How can we forget that mental image or Brain Map?

Get my book, Power Christian Thinking to learn more and change your mind.

Can you think of other terms about pictures and images?

Healing the Brain Maps

Traumatic events actually leave an impression or map in the brain. And, the pain of the original even can get worse over the years. How does that happen?

It is rather easy to explain. The pain increases the same way a habit, good or bad, increases over time is we continue of practice the same behavior.

We have lived north of Interstate 275 around Cincinnati for almost 15 years. The entire time we lived here we exited the ramp from I-71 to Field's Ertle Road by turning into the ramp and stopping in a few yards at the traffic light. We could go straight or turn either direction on Mason Road.

This summer they changed the exit. It now loops around the exit to take me straight onto Mason Road. Each time I come to the exit my old habits return and I am tempted to turn down the exit the same ways I have fo 15 years. It takes mental energy and conscious thought to restrain my "natural" habit. That temptation can remain for months or even years.

Old Habits Die Hard!

The more we develop a habit, the stronger it can  become and the longer it takes to change it. Imagine for a moment that you and the family go out after a big snowfall with tubes to slide down the hill behind your house.

The first few slides you can't guid it too well because it tends to choose it's own path. However, after five or ten repetitions, a nice, deep pathway has been formed and it is easy to slide down that worn path. And, it is not easy to steer the tube out of the path.

The brain is like that is well. Events that are good, bad or even traumatic can be deepened and strengthened when after the initial event we think about it over and over. So, if we want to build a strong habit of a positive nature, meditate on it over and over. In the same way, rumination, or negative meditation, will build a bad or painful habit.

Every person develops both so if you want to delete negative habits and strengthen great habits, read my books found in Ebook PDF form at Sweeten Life Systems. 

Old Wounds Must be Healed!

You may wonder why I have been posting about phantom limb pain. Hang on why I tell you.

Most of the people in psychological/emotional pain suffer from Phantom Oppressors! The pain is still present in their minds but the oppressor is long gone, even dead.

Years ago when my mom was in the hospital, I drove back to Illinois to visit her. While waiting for the surgery to end, my aunt and I chatted about our family tree.

I said, "Aunt Lena, why are you such a strong Republican and my dad your your dad were such strong Democrats"?

Her face instantly became red, her eyes blazed and the veins in her neck stuck out. She said between clenched teeth, "No SOB Democrat is going to tell me how to vote"!

I was stunned at her intense reaction and said, "Who is trying to make you vote Democrat"?

"MY dad!" she practically shouted.

Her father had been dead for over 50 years yet he was still oppressing her every day. How can that be? He was a phantom from the past, yet he was still yelling at her at age 75.

Most of the people I have worked with over the years are still reacting to events in their past to oppressors long dead. Despite the fact that the "limb" beating her is buried it needs to be straightened out.

How can we do that?

The Bible and Origin of Pain

A couple of days ago I wrote about biblical ways to change our mindsets and relieve our pains. Romans 12:2 says we can change our brain and mind in ways that what we Perceive reality will be altered.

Question: Does this mean that we can stop having pain from a phantom limb by altering the way we think?

Answer: Yes, because the pain is no longer in the arm. It is in the brain.

Q: How can that be? Is the brain actually damaged from the injury? Is it real brain damage?

A: Not exactly damaged. The brain does not develop lesions. However, it does develop new and stronger pathways for the pain messages of the brain to make us feel as though the pain is in the body.

Q: So, how does renewing the mind actually change the brain?

A: We need to overwrite the old mental picture. The Mind Map developed as a result of the accident must be changed. It can be replaced by thinking new thoughts and developing new images in the brain.

Q: What happens if we do not replace the original Mind Map? Can pain get worse?

A: The more we think about the original events that caused the pain, the deeper and stronger than it was as a result of the event. So, the pain can get worse.

Want to learn more about how to replace old, painful Mind Maps? Get our books at Sweeten Life Systems. 

The Biblical Answer to Phantom/Mysterious Pain

It must be obvious to that a limb that has been amputated cannot be the source of chronic pain. If the limb is gone, we cannot feel the sensations from it. The limbs are sometimes buried miles away.

When an explosion, accident or disease first occurs the nerves travel at the speed of light to the brain and the brain draws a little map of the injured area. It immediately sends a message back to the body that says, "There is a problem. I have been hurt. Protect me."

From that point on, the brain has a memory map or mental map of the hurt area. Unless something occurs to heal that brain map, it will continue to send messages of pain to the body as if the limb was still there. Since the brain remembers many things from the past that are long gone and far away, why not the pain from an accident.



Want to know more about healing brain maps? Go to my book store and get some of our materials. 

Gary Sweeten

Putting the Fun in the Family Dys-Function

When I learned that Listening deeply and patiently was the very best way to influence others to grow, change and be healed, it shocked me into rethinking my approach to care and counsel.

then I learned about the power of Renewing the Mind and I started applying it to my own life with great benefit to peace and joy. (It also gave me a powerful tool to teach others about.)

When I learned about Prayer Therapy it led me to seek prayers for my own inner pain and I saw God's Spirit unravel a lot of baggage within me and my friends.

When I learned about how families relate as emotional systems from generation to generation it led me to act like Sherlock Holmes and find out all about my ancestors!

Then I decided to put all of these ideas together into a systematic system of wellness. We called it "The Teleios Model" of life. (Teleios means Wholeness).

We have been equipping Christians all over the world for decades to adopt and use the Teleios Model in churches, families and communities. I love to tell about it and I love to teach the classes because so many people are released from past dysfunctions through them.

This summer I get to teach a lot of folks Family Systems from generation to generation. It be at the Vineyard in Tri-County for 5 weeks on Monday nights starting July 11. No registration and show up a little before 7:30 PM.

See their link for child care and schedule. 

You can get the entire Book on my web page. It is How to be Me in my Family Tree. 

Ya'll come on down on any night. I guarantee a lot of action and fun. Bring your dysfunctions with you and leave them at every session.

Where Does Pain Come From?

One of my family members lost an arm. The brother of the man found it and took it to the funeral home and they buried it. Later, the victim complained that his arm hurt. Terribly. It was, he said, buried in an award way so it was hurting him.

The friends and brothers went to the burial ground and dug it up. They opened the box and straightened the arm as the victim watched. As soon as it was straight, the pain left the man's phantom arm.

How can that be?

Why was there pain in the first place?

Where does pain come from? The arm of the brain? If it is the arm. How could it hurt after the limb was gone from his body? If it is stuck in his memory bank the pain will remain as long as the memory is there.

Why did the pain leave after the arm was straightened out? What changed?

Tell me what you think.

(Hint! It is not in the arm.)

Go to our eBook store and get my book on Power Christian Thunking and you will discover how to remove old painful events like a dead arm.