In case you might have forgotten who Gumby is, He is a green clay humanoid character created by Art Clokey. Gumby is the subject of over 200 episodes on T.V.
The thing I remember best thing about Gumby was that he could change into anything, any shape. Gumby could become any object and then be flexible enough to change back into his original shapeGumby offered extreme flexibility. Gumby provides a vivid example of the conclusions drawn from volumes of new brain research that has caused brain experts to change the way they view the brain.
There is a new concept in science called Neuroplasticity. We now know that the brain has the ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout a lifetime. The brain does not have to be limited by age or past learning, rather it adjusts to new situations and new environments in life.
The more information the brain receives the more likely it is to be we present to be vibrant and ready for life. It is also possible to say the more new situations we present to our the more the brain has capacity to heal and grow. The key to brain rehab is the number of functional connections we make in our brain.We remap the brain in a positive way. I once worked with a lady who had a very limited food palate. She could eat at only one or two restaurants in town. She didn’t like foods touching each other on her plate.
Having a limited variety of foods you can eat does not exhibit flexibility and is not valuable for stimulating the brain. Try India food tonight and cook new recipes at home all week. It’s great for the brain! Jesus is a perfect example of flexibility. When Jesus spoke the Beatitudes he turned the spiritual world upside down! We can conjecture that Adam before the fall ,had a gifted brain taking full advantage of neuroplasticity.
In Genesis 2:19 we see Papa God inviting Adam to name all the animals. It probably didn’t take him all day and all night to accomplish the task. His neuroconnectors functioned al high speed.
Flexibility is good for your brain, inflexIble, habituated thinking invites a frozen capacity to new idea of improved memorization. Kingdom thinking will require each of us to have a flexible healed brain full of power and the glory of Jesus.
Here are some exercises to help you create mental flexibility:
- Use your non preferred hand to eat and dress yourself for a week
- Drive to school or work using a completely different route
- Every time you begin to walk, make your first stride using your non preferred leg
- Count backwards from 100 by 3’s next time you do the exercise ,count backwards from100 using a different number.
- Next time you feel inflexible stop and ask Jesus where he is and what he is doing
- Learn to write your name with your non-preferred hand.
- Look for a food recipe or a restaurant you would not normally choose.
- Ask Holy Spirit how flexible am I?
- Read Matthew 5, the Beatitudes. Which beatitude strikes you as most mentally stretching? Why?
