Neuroplasticity

I found this fascinating.

Those who believe in a God who creates ex nihilo will yawn.

But consider the importance of catechesis in this light. Belief only comes from investment in the process of changing our minds. We are created plastic, and the Holy Spirit accomplishes the person we are in the sight of God.

Yet we need the culture around us to make it so. Families need to cultivate life in the Spirit. Parishes need to teach us to see through the glass darkly.

I have been inspired in this vein by the Conversion Diary of Jennifer. She has posted beautiful reflections on the importance of detachment in overcoming vice. In her case, she's dealing with a peroccupation with food. But we all have vices to unlearn if we hope to become clay in the Potter's hands.

How will you renounce sin this year? How will you become the exact opposite of what you don't respect about yourself? How will God teach you that with Him all things are possible?

p.s. Jennifer has also written an excellent article for InsideCatholic about changing the pro-choice mindset. My own conversion on the issue is illustrative of what must happen in our culture as a whole in order to turn the tide for life: If our society is ever to respect the unborn, we must first respect and fully understand the nature of the act that creates those unborn lives in the first place. As long as the connection between sexual activity and its life-giving potential is severed, the temptation to devalue human life will win out.