Presented by
Blake Brown
“Excuse me, but is that a pumpkin in your head?” As you hear those words, your brain immediately conjures up an image of a large, round, orange object—because at some point in the past you have “filed away” the word “pumpkin” in your brain, as well as a picture-image of a pumpkin to go along with it. Or, when the brain hears the word “pizza,” it knows what that word means because in the past you’ve seen and eaten a pizza. And, equally important, your brain knows that a pumpkin is not a pizza! But how does the brain know all of this?
Your brain is indeed about the shape and size of a small pumpkin—weighing about three pounds in an average adult. And, even stranger, surgeons who operate on the brain say that it feels like unbaked bread dough when they hold it in their hands. But that’s no pumpkin or loaf of bread in your head!
The brain may be small, but it is very important. For example, the brain is connected to the spinal cord, which runs down a person’s back. Together, the brain and spinal cord are known as the “central nervous system.” That system controls such things as our breathing and the beating of our heart. Plus, it is in charge of all our movements. It also is responsible for incoming messages sent to the brain by our eyes, ears, nose, and other organs. And it also is responsible for outgoing messages sent by our brain to those organs.
The brain also performs the tasks of memory storage. If you see a friend at school, your eyes send a picture to your brain at a speed of more than 300 miles per hour. The brain then rapidly digs through its vast memory banks to match the face with a name. Then the brain, which also controls your speech, permits you to say, “Hello, Jimmy. How are you today?”
When Jimmy says, “I’m fine, thank you,” the vibrations caused by his words are picked up by 25,000 receptors in your ears, and are transferred to your brain as electrical impulses at a rate of 25,000 vibrations per second. When those vibrations arrive, your brain instantly interprets them as such things as a human voice, the rolling crack of thunder, the beautiful sounds made by more than 1,500 different musical tones, or as the thousands of other sounds that humans hear on a daily basis. The complexity of these integrated systems is utterly amazing!
The brain also instructs our bodies to react suddenly and swiftly whenever the need arises. For example, when you touch something hot on the top of the stove, your brain immediately instructs your hand to move away—and your hand obeys! In addition, the brain controls anger, love, joy, hatred, and all of the other emotions.
How is it possible to take three pounds of matter, and in that small space cram all of our knowledge, memories, communication skills, and emotions? How is it possible for those three pounds of matter to keep our heart beating, cause our lungs to inhale and exhale, and even give us a detailed internal map of the positions of our arms or legs? How is it that a certain smell can instantly carry us back to a specific period in time years earlier—and even offer us crystal-clear images of that particular time in our life? Exactly how does the brain store the chemical reactions that allow us to distinguish a banana from an orange—just by using our nose? Where is the memory of such chemical reactions stored, and how long will that memory last? Or, where do we store emotions? And how do we store them? Why is it that the sound of one person’s voice can bring us great happiness, while the sound of another person’s voice can cause us to become extremely agitated or fearful?
Nope—that’s no pumpkin in your head. It’s an astounding, amazing, astonishing brain! Some scientists who do not believe in God, but who believe in evolution instead, say that our astounding, amazing, astonishing brain “just happened.” My brain, however, will not accept such a silly idea! The brain is too well designed and too complicated to have “just happened.” In Acts 17:25, the apostle Paul said that it is God Who “gives to all life, breath, and all things.” We always should remember that it is God Who has given us our brains. And we should use those brains to give Him the honor and glory that He is due because He is our Creator!