My husband and I went for a walk and run today at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington. The \u00a0\u00a0experience was magical. The trails at Point Defiance are soft with pine needles, leaves, and the deep, damp dirt of the Pacific Northwest, and they curve through tall Douglas Firs, Western Red Cedars, and even madronas of soft golden bark, bright green leaves, and red berries. Today, the air was crisp and cold, the wind blew strongly off the salt water, the sky was a shocking bright blue up through the treetops, and the birds called to each other in a variety of songs. The trails here wind for miles, offering runners and walkers a deep woods experience into the interior of the peninsula or a perimeter run along the cliffs overlooking the Puget Sound.<\/p>\n
Our lungs took in the fresh air, our senses gathered the sounds and smells of the forest, and our feet ran in rhythm with each other and with the \u201cheartbeat\u201d of the land, God\u2019s amazing creation. Looking up, we saw two bald eagles gliding above the tree canopy. They were beautiful. We later heard eagles chattering and calling to each other in the distance. Their call is unique and one I\u2019ve only heard once before today. We felt fully alive. Surely our whole being was engaged in this day, consciously and unconsciously.<\/p>\n
Spellbound<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Daniel Z. Lieberman, clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at George Washington University, in his book, Spellbound: Modern Science, Ancient Magic, and the Hidden Potential of the Unconscious Mind, <\/em>points out that the human brain operates through a complex, collaborative effort of the conscious and unconscious mind, together. He makes the case that the unconscious, \u201ca vast collection of neural circuits working all the time, just out of sight \u2013 just out of mind,\u201d is vastly more influential in our daily living than we might think.[1]<\/a> Pointing out that humans tend to value their conscious, rational mind, more than their unconscious, instinctual ways of thinking, he says, \u201cWe have two ways of understanding: an instinctual one, which views the world from a magical perspective, and a rational one, which tends to be more materialistic\u2026most people prefer the logical approach\u2026but you pay dearly if you ignore a large part of your brain and try to make sense of the world using only half your cognitive abilities.\u201d[2]<\/a> He challenges the reader to \u201crecognize the influences of the unconscious, and make it an ally in helping us become who we were meant to be.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n The \u201cMagical Perspective\u201d Caught My Attention<\/strong><\/p>\n I was particularly interested in Lieberman\u2019s presentation of the \u201cMagical Perspective.\u201d To communicate what he means by the \u201cmagical perspective,\u201d he draws upon the wisdom of psychologist William James, speaking about the psychology of religion. James describes the way in which the human mind embraces those experiences of life that are difficult to rationalize and put words to, those experiences that allow us to believe in the unseen, have faith in something greater than ourselves, live for a love beyond our capacity. He says, \u201cWeight, movement, velocity, direction, position, what thin, pallid, uninteresting ideas!… It is the terror and the beauty of phenomena, the \u2018promise\u2019 of the dawn and of the rainbow, the \u2018voice\u2019 of the thunder, the \u2018gentleness\u2019 of the summer rain, the \u2018sublimity\u2019 of the stars, and not the physical laws which these things follow, by which the religious mind still continues to be most impressed.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n Jason Clark, in a lecture at Oxford University, spoke of a similar phenomenon creating wonderment and transcendence: that which is sublime, that which moves us to awe and wonder, those experiences in which we encounter God, and language is insufficient to describe the moment.[5]<\/a> Human beings experience the sublime and the magic in those moments when our complex selves, our conscious and unconscious, connect with the complexities of God\u2019s creation, all we can see and all we cannot see. This is a time when our rational brain is present, but not overriding our intuitive brain, so that both can be functioning and fully alive. This is what I felt on our run today at Point Defiance, paying attention but not controlling, hearing what God was speaking through God\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n Engaging the Conscious and Unconscious in Nature: A Personal Example<\/strong><\/p>\n As I ran through the trails, several words kept coming to mind, as if up from my subconscious, words that had come to mind a few days earlier. Faith. Hope. Love. And the greatest of these is love.[6]<\/a> It seemed God was showing me a new depth to these concepts that had been swirling on the back burner of my brain for the last few days. Through nature I was learning from God of faith, hope, and love, without actual words, but instead, through seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling. Intuition, as well. No words needed. That was magical. God has definitely given us the ability to engage with, intuit, and make sense of the world in a variety of ways, and in so doing we engage richly and deeply with God, ever more intimately, as we learn to live fully into the complexity of the people God has created us to be.<\/p>\n Lieberman says, \u201cA magic moment wakes us up from our familiar routines. It makes us realize the world has a deeper, more mystical dimension than we\u2019re accustomed to seeing.\u201d[7]<\/a> He adds, we may not have control over when these magical moments occur, \u201cbut when they do, we connect with the unconscious, the ordinary fades away, and we remember what it feels like to be fully alive.\u201d[8]<\/a> And isn\u2019t that what we are seeking? To be fully alive?<\/p>\n Conclusion: A Quote and a Prayer<\/strong><\/p>\n I am reminded of a quote by theologian and philosopher Howard Thurman which says, \u201cDon\u2019t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n God, help us to live fully alive as the people you created us to be, enjoying and loving you with our whole heart, soul, strength, and mind: conscious and unconscious.[10]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Daniel Z. Lieberman, Spellbound: Modern Science, Ancient Magic, and the Hidden Potential of the Unconscious Mind <\/em>(Dallas, TX: BenBella Books, Inc., 2022), 1.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Lieberman, 46.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Lieberman, 1.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> William James in Lieberman, 23.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Jason Clark, A Lecture on the \u201cSublime,\u201d Christ Church, Oxford University, Oxford, England, September 20, 2023.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> I Corinthians 13:13.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Lieberman, 25.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Lieberman, 25.<\/p>\n