Skip to content
Fr. Jos Tharakan
Menu
  • Home
  • About Me!
    • Speaking
    • HOBs Institute
    • Login
  • Online Retreats
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Music
      • Sahasra Namam – Music and Orchestra
      • Vachana Thirtham – My first 10 Compositions!
      • YesuLayanam
      • Divyaraagam
      • Silence Of Love – Instrumental
    • Podcast
    • Media
    • Blog
  • Contact
Menu

Reptilian brain to God’s mind

Posted on May 12, 2011 by Fr. Jos+

Most of us are hurt in our life one time or another. We have been a victim of someone’s anger, abuse or misbehavior. In my fifteen years of ministry I am yet to find a person who has not experienced hurt from someone close to them many times and sometimes even a few strangers. It is only natural from the theory of the survival of the fittest that one would want to take revenge, take action or respond to such experience.

Recently as I was reading Karen Armstrong, a great inspirational writer for the brave, I came across what that desire to revenge means. In the Twelve Steps to compassionate life, she speaks about “reptilian brain”, the one that is still present underneath the more developed brain. This reptilian brain is responsible for the fight or flight response in animals.

We all need a reptilian brain to face danger and our need to respond to dangerous situations quickly. It however is not attuned to living in human societies, meaning, the developed species of the world or for the life of faith. Jesus calls humanity to outpace our reptilian brain with a call to the highest and best within us, to raise our sights upon Him and create a compassion, kind and caring world around us. True societies are based on self-giving respecting all of God’s children no matter who that person is, even our enemies.

Jesus is challenging humanity to grow beyond the tribal mentality. C.S. Lewis says, “Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is. If there are rats in a cellar, you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats; it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way, the suddenness of the provocation does not make me ill-tempered; it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am”.

Jesus is right when He invites His disciples to be like His Father who is perfect. May be we are all called to strive towards perfection so that we might one day become perfect in the eyes of God rather than that of man. It is when we respect the other, we will restrain from being bad to one another. Religion is meant to make us do the right thing in life. What is the right thing in life: It is to love, to serve, to think and to be humble, says Ralph Waldo Emerson.

According to a Chinese proverb, “He who seeks vengeance must dig two graves: one for his enemy and one for himself”.

All of Jesus’ teaching is inviting mankind to become part of a civilized society of God. Respect, honor and care of one another will lead us to respect the other just like God respects mankind. The only way we become perfect in the eyes of God is when we respect ourselves as the God’s own temple and when we do the same to the other regardless of the sin we attribute to them. When our reptilian brains become civilized we will have found our true heritage. We all may be surprised at the light that appears suddenly in front of us. But I can assure you that we will not be made rats because of the suddenness of life, but what we are inside is revealed in the light that happens suddenly. We Christians need to tame ourselves to be interrupted by the suddenness of God’s light, so that what appears from within us is not rat like behavior, but God like manner of life.

Religion is to teach us to do the right thing in life: It is to love, to serve, to think and to be humble. But above all love one another and respect the dignity of all human beings. Even when our survival instincts challenge us we are to act as Christ did, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fr. Joseph “Jos” Tharakan

Fr. Jos Tharakan

“Called to walk with the other, like Jesus on the way to Emmaus, listening carefully, living authentically, and loving genuinely. The Franciscan call to “Rebuild My Church”, is my everyday focus; nothing more and nothing less.”

If you already have a Spotify Premium, this podcast will take you to a different world. Each Holy Eucharist and Retreat here is packed with incredible music from professional artists and choirs. Available only on Spotify!
Reflections, Prayers, and Spiritually Uplifting Messages. Available on any podcast service you have. Apple, Spotify, Google etc.

Site Admin

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

True Religion

What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6: 8 (The New Revised Standard Version)

Right Worship

Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. - John 4: 24 (The Message Bible)

Living Faith

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works?... If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? - James 2: 14-16 (NRSV)

© 2022 Fr. Jos Tharakan | Powered by Superbs Personal Blog theme