Thoughts on the Incarnation

I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”- Psalm 18:1-2

Funny thing happens when you read something like this passage above and really start to let the voice of someone else become your own...it reminds me of a very interesting documentary on the human brain and psychology that I saw a while ago on PBS hosted by Alan Alda (that famous 80-90s actor, I believe). Anyway, there was one section in the documentary which absolutely floored me. Studies showed that human thought and emotions are actually very much a product of the things we DO and SAY, not the other way around. For example, people who were told to "smile" in an experiment, triggered neurons in the brain that brought out feelings of happiness and well-being. Seeing someone else smile, apparently elicited similar reactions. They conducted experiments on a whole host of emotions that were triggered by the external environment, facial expressions or words people spoke aloud.

The point they were trying to drive home was that as humans we are very sensitive to the words we hear, the things we see expressed in others (that we mimic almost unconsciously) and our social environment in general. It was revolutionary to realize that thoughts, feelings and ideas we have do not emanate from within so much as they reflect something that has been triggered from without...and that often there is a large element of 'choice' in the very feelings and thoughts we entertain.

Maybe this is why Jesus so often quoted directly from the Bible (Psalms and much of the Old Testament). In fact, almost everything he uttered had some basis on Scripture, even as I learned in an illuminating sermon today, "Seventy-times seven," the number of times to forgive someone (also the number uttered to Daniel in a prophecy in which God tells him the length of the Israelites exile before the coming of Christ.) Anyway, they were HIS words and thoughts, but they were also inspired by the voices and thoughts of those who predated him by hundreds of years...he seemed especially fond of quoting or taking on the words of King David, his distant ancestor...even til his death on the cross: "Oh God, oh God, why have thou forsaken me?" (Psalm 22)

So much for originality. No...but it's comforting to know that someone else has been there, done that, knows what it feels like to go through life and all the joys, pain, love and suffering that life often entails. I guess that was the point of the Incarnation. And I guess that's why his words, and the words of his forebears resonate so much with people today...for people with hearts that are alive and willing to be present.