Following on from my last few TFTDs, I am concentrating on one body part that we all know well, is essential to life, and has never been successfully transplanted, (unless you believe the novels of Mary Shelley). This is of course the brain, and the next few TFTDs will look at different areas of the “nerve centre” of the human body.
The brain is divided into discreet lobes, with certain areas responsible for specific things. The largest part of the brain is the cerebrum, and this governs things such as movement, speech, thought processes and memory, as well as visual processing. The cerebellum is a smaller part of the brain situated underneath the cerebrum and governs coordination, balance and control of movement. Right at the bottom of the brain and leading into the spinal cord is the brainstem and this governs automatic functions such as heart rate and blood pressure, and breathing control.
The cerebrum is also divided into two halves, a right and a left side. The right side of the body is governed by the left side of the brain and vice versa. Someone who has a stroke affecting the left side of the brain will be affected on the right side of the body. In the majority of people who are right handed and in most left handed people it is a small area in the left side of the brain that governs speech. With one area (Broca’s area) governing the production of speech, finding the right words and articulating them. If this area is affected the person has “expressive aphasia”, meaning they know what they want to say but cannot find or articulate the right words. A second area, (Wernicke’s area) governs the understanding of words, so that if this area is affected the person cannot understand what is being said, “receptive aphasia.”
How often do we struggle to find the right words to say? We know what we should be saying but fail to speak up. We say nothing rather than express our faith clearly. We have spiritual expressive aphasia.
Or perhaps we fail to understand what others or even God is telling us. We are puzzled and confused about God’s purpose for us. We have spiritual receptive aphasia.
Some people who suffer a stroke which affects their speech in this way are able to recover the ability to speak and make themselves understood with the help of therapists.
If we listen to God, if we do the spiritual exercises he sets us, if we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, we can understand and be understood, and we can find the right words to say.