Awaken Your Senses

I am currently reading a book that I highly recommend called “Awaken Your Senses”.    It has been one of the most impactful books I have read in a long while.  It is not so much a book to read straight through as it is a book to work your way through slowly.   This excerpt best describes what the book is about:

Words are the primary form of communication we use to nurture our spiritual lives.  They happen to be the language of the left brain.  The left brain, which is the logical and concrete center of our thinking, uses words to understand and interpret experiences.  However, the left brain cannot experience – God or anything else.  The left brain takes meaning from our experiences; the right brain does the experiencing.   The right brain, the creative and intuitive center of our thinking, communicates through images, not words.   By image, we mean anything you envision through one or more of your senses.   We need both sides of our brain in order to live and grow as a person of faith.  In fact, neither side can do its job well without the other.  Words provide content and information that are critical to faith formation, but words alone are not sufficient to create encounters with God that nurture wholeness.  As Dr. Terry Wardle of Ashland Theological Seminary says, “We are over informed and under transformed.”   Why?  Because we rely almost exclusively on word-oriented approaches that provide information about God but rarely facilitate engagement with God.  We need to awaken both sides of our brain in order to experience God.

My faith experience, has primarily taken place at a church that puts a high value on the study of God’s Word through sermons and personal study.   My spiritual practices have primarily been focused on reading, studying, memorizing, and acquiring Biblical knowledge.   All of these practices have been primarily engaging the left brain. I have had very little training or exposure to the practices set forth in this book that teach me to engage God with all of my senses (the right brain).  The book’s exercises have been especially valuable.   I feel like I am using muscles long dormant as they have helped me to experience God anew and see what an active part He plays in my everyday life.  It has truly been a transforming experience for me.