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Synapses of the Soul

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2021-03-05T07:02:09-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Discerning the Voice of the Good Shepherd

Last updated on: March 5, 2021 at 7:02 am By Synapses of the Soul

We celebrate on this day both Good Shepherd Sunday and Vocations Sunday. The Church reminds us today that each Christian has one task: to listen to the Shepherd’s voice and heed his call. In the Gospel for today, this unfolds with simplicity: “the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out… and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.” However, I have found that — in my generation in particular — discernment is often a... Read more

2021-03-05T07:02:10-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Don’t Waste This Time.

Last updated on: March 5, 2021 at 7:02 am By Synapses of the Soul

“I can’t wait for this to be over.” In the month since the UK entered lockdown, I have heard this refrain echoed countless times by friends, colleagues, and strangers. It’s entered my own mind at times. But, while it’s a temptingly easy thing to say, it’s also deeply tragic. Of course, on one level, this phrase is merely expressing a desire for an end to human pain and death. And that’s natural, reasonable. We long for an end to suffering,... Read more

2021-03-05T07:02:11-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

10 Ways to be a Bad Catholic Neuroscientist

Last updated on: March 5, 2021 at 7:02 am By Synapses of the Soul

The most common question I am asked is “How do you reconcile your Catholic faith with your research?” or the popular rhetorical variation, “You study theology and neuroscience? That’s an odd combination.” It has come up in a multitude of contexts, from Catholic university campuses to the National Institutes of Health, from conversations with strangers on the bus to family reunions. In the conversations that inevitably follow, I have come across a number of [false] assumptions people have about Catholicism,... Read more

2021-03-05T07:02:12-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Science and Spirituality of Good Humor

Last updated on: March 5, 2021 at 7:02 am By Synapses of the Soul

I have the greatest housemates. Before my arrival I was nervous about housing, because I was assigned to an eleven-bedroom cottage for graduate students. Eleven bedrooms? How can eleven people get along, especially when we study different things and speak different languages and keep different hours? I expected it to devolve quickly. I was spectacularly wrong. I’ve spent many years living with people I’m not related to, but this has been by far the most joyful and easiest arrangement. And... Read more

2021-03-05T07:02:13-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Four British Gifts for Thanksgiving

Last updated on: March 5, 2021 at 7:02 am By Synapses of the Soul

I have two problems with how we celebrate Thanksgiving. First, we often treat it as an isolated event that is both stripped of its historical context and separate from the rest of our own selfish and ungrateful existence. Second, the increasing commercialization of the holiday has turned it into a feast of avarice, in which we pay our respects at the altar of Capitalism with a day of frantic shopping. Thanksgiving is much too important to be celebrated this way.... Read more

2021-03-05T07:03:45-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

You Could Die Anytime (When Breath Becomes Air)

Last updated on: March 5, 2021 at 7:03 am By Synapses of the Soul

Our culture fears anything related to death. We fear ageing, not merely out of distaste for the accompanying wrinkles and back pain. We fear illness, and not only because of the pain and high medical bills that it brings. No, we fear ageing and illness as harbingers of death. So we work to keep them at bay, studiously avoiding any reminder of our mortality. Perhaps we shouldn’t. Fear of death does not generate life. No matter how studiously we avoid... Read more

2021-03-05T07:03:46-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

You’re Not Made for the City

Last updated on: March 5, 2021 at 7:03 am By Synapses of the Soul

My daily commute here at Cambridge is glorious. Depending on the day of the week, I either walk through verdant cow pastures or wind my way through medieval cobblestone streets. By the time I get home, I’m always in a better mood. Time in green, natural spaces relaxes and uplifts me. In August, my return to an urban setting was jarring. I spent the summer at an abbey in the foothills of Colorado; compared the peace of that vast natural... Read more

2021-03-05T07:02:16-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Can Children Flourish in our Modern Society?

Last updated on: March 5, 2021 at 7:02 am By Synapses of the Soul

The news is filled with alarming statistics on child health and well-being. Rates of anxiety and depression are skyrocketing; racial disparities persist in childhood trauma; early childhood education remains inaccessible for many American children. And yet, there are signs of hope. Many modern social, technological, and economic changes have the potential to improve child health. Stigma around mental illness is decreasing. Innovations in urban design are improving neighborhood health. Scientific research is correcting and expanding our understanding of child development.... Read more

2021-03-05T07:02:16-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is Most of Life Emptiness and Pain?

Last updated on: March 5, 2021 at 7:02 am By Synapses of the Soul

If you know me, you know that I like thinking about death. Not in a morbid way. No, I like it because meditating on death allows me to understand the truth and purpose of my life. Because of this, I always look forward to Week IV of the Psalter. That week, Morning Prayer on Monday begins with one of my favorite meditations on death, Psalm 90. O Lord… / You turn men back to dust / and say: Go back, sons... Read more

2021-03-05T07:03:47-06:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Neuroscience Does (not?) Disprove Free Will

Last updated on: March 5, 2021 at 7:03 am By Synapses of the Soul

5 Comments

The idea that neuroscience disproves the existence of free will is prevalent in popular culture. At this point, it’s old news, something that you might hear in passing at a cocktail party or on a talk show. But has it? A closer examination of the literature shows that (1) the neuroscience experiments in question are full of problems and limitations and (2) this isn’t a scientific conclusion at all. The foundational neuroscience research Research in this area began in the... Read more

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