Once upon a time there lived a lonely neuron named Nick. In spite of being surrounded by billions of other neurons, Nick felt alienated from the rest. He believed there was more to life than what was being shown to him by the five senses.
Nick was getting tired of the allurements and vanities of the world. He did not want to be caught up in the trappings of physical life like most of his neighboring neurons. How did this happen? He began to have these feelings of separation one day as the optic nerve he was connected to brought in some new information from a book called the Holy Bible.
The information seemed to tell a sad story about how the original humans once lived in a garden paradise, but were removed from this garden after making a bad decision. These original humans ignored God’s warning about eating fruit from a tree other than the Tree of Life. Humans and their neurons have been suffering ever since.
Nick had noticed that many of the other neurons he was connected to mocked this story and even convinced other neurons in the motor cortex to close the Bible and put it back on the shelf. Poor Nick had argued with those in the motor cortex to keep on reading the Bible. But he was overruled by the majority of his neighbors.
Nick surmised that the horrible mistake made by the original humans came from a bad decision in the brain—from neurons convinced that they did not need God’s guidance. He wondered if he could reverse this decision and convince his fellow neurons of their mistake. So he decided to make new synapses with fellow neurons in the motor cortex to see how to get the brain to change its actions.
The neurons in this region of the brain told Nick that if he wanted to change the thinking of his neighbors, he would first have to change their feelings.
“How do I do that?” asked Nick.
“You must seek out the neurons that live in the Limbic system,” came their unanimous response.
So Nick concentrated hard and sent out extra axons and dentritic spines to make new synapses with the limbic system. Once the proper connections were made, he asked the neurons in this region of the brain how one could influence the brain’s emotions.
“What kind of emotions do you seek?” asked the neurons of the Limbic region.
“I wish we could all share the same spiritual feelings,” said Nick with great passion. “I want us all to find our way back to God’s Tree of Life.” The neurons of the Limbic system sensed that Nick was a very special neuron and began to examine his synaptic connections more closely.
“We have determined that you actually are a part of some pathways that transcend normal emotional behavior. You have allowed yourself to regain some access to the Tree of Life.”
“How can that be? I don’t even know where the Tree of Life is,” exclaimed Nick.
“The Tree of Life is located in the part of the brain that is unconscious—the cerebellum. You do not have to look for it. It will find you,” said the Limbic neurons.
Suddenly Nick began to feel a more complex emotional influence that could only be described by the words “heavenly love.” Now the voices of completely new neurons began to communicate with Nick.
“We are from the cerebellum,” came their startling introduction. “We are responsible for the new feelings you are now experiencing.”
Nick now remembered from studying an anatomical book that the cerebellum’s three lobes and stems were shaped like a tree. “How is it that you neurons are associated with the Tree of Life and the cerebral neurons like me are not?”
“The neurons that you live among are mostly influenced by the physical world of the five senses,” came their answer. “We, however, are influenced by God and heavenly order. If it were not so, the biological processes of the human body would fall apart in a minute. We also coordinate muscular movement with a precision that matches one’s intentions. We are also the gateway through which God begins to stir up feelings for spiritual renewal.”
“Gee, does the Bible verify what you are saying?” questioned the reasoning neuron.
“God’s moving in the void and darkness, the face of the deep and over the face of the waters in Genesis, is a metaphor for the process of spiritual growth beginning in the human unconscious mind. We neurons, who partake of the Tree of Life, have a special affinity towards God’s symbolic and heavenly language.”
“Why have you connected with me?’” asked Nick.
“Because you are willing to be guided by the Lord God. That is why you did not want your buddies in motor cortex to put the Bible back on the shelf,” pointed out the neurons from the cerebellum. “The more that you become influenced by us, the more you can influence your neighbors in the cerebrum to adopt a similar life of heavenly cooperation. This, in turn, will allow one brain to influence many other brains so that life in the physical world can begin to express the mutual love of God’s spiritual world. For kingdoms to change, neurons must change.”
“I’m ready!” said Nick.