Some really smart people believe that your brain, and all its cells and electrical connections are what make all of your thinking possible. But some of those same smart people can’t explain what being “awake” or “conscious” actually means. And does the brain “store” all your memories, like a computer saves files? Maybe not. There are some fun, and strange, ideas to explore here.
There are many recorded stories about near-death experiences, or “NDEs”. For example, a person might be having surgery, and something goes wrong, and that person literally dies, with no heartbeat, and no brainwaves. And while the person’s body is clinically dead, the doctors and nurses are scrambling to restart his heart. But something else is happening at the same time.
There are thousands of accounts of people whose bodies are dead, but their minds are not. The brain itself is dead, possibly for many minutes, but the person is “awake”, and still having an experience in the room, or even outside the room.
There is something truly amazing, mind blowing about this. When the body is resuscitated, the person actually remembers what he experienced. So the body has no life, the heart is not beating, and the brain is completely “off” with no electricity in it, but the mind is still working, and the memories of what the mind saw and did still exist. What in the world is this?
A memory is not “stored” in the brain. It can’t be, because the “computer” that would save the files is turned off. The Bible actually says something about this. It says that God is a spirit, he does not need a body. He chooses to use a body when he wants, but he doesn’t need it. And the Bible says that he created us “in his image”, so some of this applies to us.
You have a spirit that won’t die. It’s the most real part of you. It keeps your memories. It contains your personality. It contains your mind. The brain is amazing, but it’s merely an “interface” between this world and your true self: It provides data to your mind about the state of the world, and sends commands from your mind to your muscles to change the state of the world.
At the bottom of it all, your body is a vehicle and your mind is the driver. When the body dies, the mind is simply disconnected from the brain. Your mind, via the spirit, also interfaces with God’s spirit, with even God himself. This is the connection that this world constantly tries to clutter and confuse and distract. Praying is simply a conversation through that spirit interface, where God always hears.
Dig Deeper: If you have more questions about this crazy subject, check out this video about NDEs and this one about mind vs brain and NDEs and this foundational Bible teaching by Andy Woods.
