Before I relate my idea of this
connection, I wish to relate two stories that showed how love occurs against
the logical odds. When I was 24, my skeleton closet of un-dealt with emotions
exploded and manifested as a month-long headache that preempted the loss of my
sight; a condition that was not resolved for another two months. There was no
medical cause for this problem and I later concluded that it was psychosomatic,
meaning that my psychological state of health caused me to manifest this
problem in my body (Myers, 2010) as perhaps some form of defense mechanism.
During this time, a little dog, part chihuahua and part dachshund, entered into
my life. I am not a fan of dogs and find them rather unappealing. In addition,
I am very allergic to animals, so I try to avoid them. For some reason, I did
not avoid this dog and felt a strange attraction to her; I loved, held, played,
and spent time with her despite my protesting allergies, which by the way, were
not as bad as usual. It soon became apparent, that this dog and I were meant
for each other. She was with me while I endured test after test to find the
source of my problem. I would bury my face in her fur and cry my frustrations;
she just laid there as my support, my pillow. Then she died. I was
heart-broken. Suddenly my anxiety grew and with that my asthma flared up.
Within a week of her death, I had such a serious attack that I went to the
emergency room. Once there, I received the standard nebulizer (atomized bronchodilator
medicine breathed in) treatment; this time it was different, though, and a
steroid that I have been given in the past in pill form was added in liquid
form to the nebulizer medicine cup. Within an hour of the treatment, I
suspected that my sight was improving; by the next morning, there was a
definite improvement.
A little dog came into my life
when I suddenly released a torrent of emotional skeletons that resulted in a
psychosomatic reaction from my body. She stayed with me during the extensive
tests and allowed me to find release. She left me and this caused me such
tremendous pain that I was no longer able to deal with the stress of my
condition and I had an asthma attack which sent me to the emergency room where
I received a treatment that restored my eyesight; a treatment I would never
have received otherwise. Why did I love this dog despite my allergies and
dislike for dogs? How was she able to comfort me when nothing else could? And
how did she bypass my innate dislike and spark my love?
A few months later, I had another
encounter with a dog and again it sparked love whereas I have never since felt
liking for a dog. We discovered a mother dog, a large German Sheppard like dog,
and her litter of 10 large pups under a shed on my neighbor’s property. My
neighbor had caged the mother dog, called animal control, and was attempting to
withdraw the pups; however, the pups were nearly inaccessible. My neighbor
remarked that the mother dog was ugly and mean because she growled and nipped
at her hand. When I went to see her, I thought she was the most beautiful dog I
had ever seen; there was something in her eyes and the way she looked at me
that caused an instant attraction to the dog. I could hear the pups yipping for
her return, but since she was trapped, she was highly agitated. I approached
her cautiously because of her agitation and my neighbor’s report about the dog’s
meanness; however, there was no need for my caution because she readily
accepted me. I asked her for her permission to get her pups to which she seemed
to acquiesce and used her nose to point the way. I am normally concerned about
dirt, bugs, spiders, and webs, but for some reason I did not even notice any of
that in my attempt to free the pups. What drove this? Why did I not react to
the things I would normally react in disgust to? Why did I find myself
attracted to another dog when I did not like dogs? Why did I think she was
beautiful when she was obviously a mutt and by most people’s standards ugly?
I am a student of psychology and
whole heartedly agree with the scientific understanding of chemical process of
feeling love. Hormones are part of all signals (Garrett, 2011) sent through our
bodies from the physical perceptions of pain, hunger, thirst, satiety, and
tiredness to the emotional perceptions of comfort, security, fear, anger, and
love. In addition, hormones regulate all physical functions in the body such as
digestion, healing, and sleep. Without hormones our body would not function
(2011). Hormones do not act alone, however; they are chemical messengers (2011)
signaled by the brain and act with neurons to help communicate a message. Science’s
understanding of neurotransmitters, neurotransmission, hormone communication,
and brain patterns is still in a state of infancy; the human brain is highly
complicated and not easy to study (2011). I believe this is why science cannot
recognize (Sharpe & Bryant, 2005) the validity of religion and vise versa.
My view on this complicated
biological signaling is that it is merely a vehicle; a signal going from one
spot to another is like a traveling vehicle. It is part of being human and part
of what makes the brain and body so complex and so simply beautiful. Unlike
many people, I do not take this understanding of chemical transmission as
detracting from the spiritual nature of love (Sharpe & Bryant, 2005) or any
emotion or biological process; in fact, I think it strengthens the
justifications of the presence of a creator or a spiritual experience. I
believe that just because the vehicle has been discovered (2005) it does not
detract in any way from the spiritual experience of love. If humans could be
reduced to simple on/off firing of chemicals to explain everyday experience,
then how is it that some things spark the signal while others do not? Look at
my experiences with the two dogs. I do not like dogs; I am allergic to them and
find them generally objectionable. In addition, I am afraid of spiders and bugs
and aversive to dirt and webs. And yet, I found a dog that I loved and who
comforted me in a difficult time in my life and I found a dog beautiful and
spent my effort to save her pups despite the obvious filth I crawled through. I
think that for me to transcend my strong emotions against these situations,
that something else must have sparked my chemical process that caused me to
feel love.
I do not believe that science’s
finding of the chemical vehicle should offend those who believe love is a
spiritual event. To think it offensive is similar to taking offence to the idea
that a car runs on gasoline. So what if the vehicle for love has been found? I
think this could strengthen people’s faith if they get over the mystical idea
that things just happen or that the methods of God are unexplainable and
realize that there is an explanation for everything. Just because a method of
God has been explained does not mean the thing does not exist. Love is not any
less just because its chemical vehicle was found; there is still something
needed to spark that love because love does not just happen. If I were to ask a
question that would be it. What is it that sparks the chemical reaction that
causes one to feel love? Why is it in some cases people feel love when other
times they do not?
Resources
Garrett, B. (2011). Brain and
Behavior: An Introduction to Biological Psychology (3rd ed.). Los Angeles:
Sage.
Myers,
D.G. (2010). Exploring psychology in modules (8th ed.). New York: Worth
Publishing.
Sharpe, K. J., & Bryant, R.
I. (2005). Has science displaced the soul? Debating love and happiness.
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
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