Episode 1 Transcript:
Hi, my name is Jared Carter. I’m not a doctor, I’m not a therapist, I can’t even crack an egg without breaking the yolk half the time. I’m just a Christian who, like many, has experienced living with a mental health challenge. This is Bless This Brain.
What does it mean to bless our brains?
I had lunch with someone recently. We were meeting so I could share the vision of our organization, Bless This Brain (you know, the name of the podcast). Shortly after shaking hands and introducing myself they said, “I hate the name.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, “What name?” Thinking maybe they hated MY name, which is understandable after the whole Jared from Subway thing
“Bless This Brain” he said “I just hate that you use the word brain. We’re so much more than brains. We focus too much on the brain.”
I said, “Okaaaay.”
Shortly after, we were seated at a table in the crowded restaurant where he offered to pray over our meal. Oddly enough, during his prayer he said “And please, Lord, bless this food to our bodies.”
“I hate that prayer,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “What about my prayer did you hate?”
“Bless This Food”, I said, “I just hate that you use the words food and body. We’re so much more than our bodies, and we focus too much on the food.”
And then I pushed my plate off the table and left the restaurant.
Of course, I didn’t do that, nor did I say that. I just imagined saying it. Why didn’t I say it? Because it would be a silly thing to say. Asking God to bless this food doesn’t mean that we’re making too much of food.
It’s an acknowledgement that food is a gift from God, so we ask God to bless it. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what exactly we’re asking him to do by blessing the food. Make it more nutritious, maybe? Add some more flavor and a little more riboflavin? I digest…digress.
That said, I know exactly what I mean when I say, Lord, Bless this brain. That’s an acknowledgement that this amazing organ encased in my bonehead, this amalgamation of fat, water, proteins, carbohydrates and salt, is a gift from God.
This miracle made of these mysteries that remain largely unknown despite many advances in modern science.
This thing that’s making me breath, and tells me when I’m hungry, or how I’m feeling.
This place that holds everything I believe about God, about myself, and about others.
Why would I not want God to bless it? What that person said didn’t really bother me that much. I’ve been talking openly about my mental health challenges for nearly five years now. I know, based on my extensive first-hand research, that Christians, are silly. And therefore we say some silly things about mental illness.
I’ve had books given to me on how to exercise those demons out of my head, I’ve heard pithy statement after pithy statement. Everything from “too blessed to be stressed” to “just take your thoughts captive”. It doesn’t really phase me anymore.
Very few of us who grew up Christian ever had anyone tell us how we should talk about mental illness. We want to be helpful, and we think being helpful means having an answer for everything. And guess what, that’s not usually helpful.
But back to the beginning and what that person said. I don’t think the problem is that we think about the brain too much. I think the problem is the opposite, as Christians we tend to think about it too little.
We ignore the health of it, or remain ignorant of what’s best for it. We demonize therapists, psychiatrists, and medications. We ignore practicing habits that lead to better sleep, stronger bodies, and lower stress.
But all of these things, they’re gifts, they come from God.
So, I pray, everyday, “Lord, Bless This Brain.”
So, in this short form podcast which will deliver new episodes as often as I darn well feel like, we’re going to devote a small portion of the day to thinking about the brain, we’re gonna talk about all the different ways we can bless, we’re gonna laugh about silly things people say, and we’re going to lean on God for grace and understand as we seek recovery for mental health challenges.
Lord, for our good, and for your glory, bless this brain.