is unconscious. It is memory that is procedural. Examples of unconscious procedural memory are tying your shoes or riding a bicycle. Once you’ve learned, you don’t have to consciously remember each part of the process. Some neuroscientists believe that as much as 80% of our memory is unconscious. This might sound like a very large amount, but if you have ever experienced the grief of someone you love deeply dying you will probably understand. When a person you love and who was close to you dies, there are so many daily habitual reminders of their presence that will continue to cause pain over and over unconsciously. You might even think in one moment about how sad it is that they have died, and then ten minutes later habitually be reminded that it is time to start making their dinner.
When we dedicate our minds and our lives to meditating on God’s Word, we internalize and strengthen our neural pathways that remind us of God’s presence in the world. The more we concentrate on God’s love for us, the more that we will feel it in our bodies. We may not be consciously aware of all the ways that we interpret and remember our reality, but the more we infuse every moment, thought and action toward God’s love and God’s Word, the more that reality will live within us. In psychology there is a concept known as priming. Priming is our brain’s way of wiring unconscious influence toward specific responses. Continued reflection and relishing of God’s goodness will prime us to unconsciously expect and observe God’s goodness at work. The process works in the negative as well. We can be unconsciously drawn toward the negative when we perpetually dwell on and accept the negative. Constant meditation on God’s love will change our being. One of the best reminders of this is Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” There are so many distractions and invitations pulling our minds one way or another. Many of the distractions are not good for us at all. Stilling our minds will still our bodies so that we can become vessels of God’s goodness and love. We can retrain our focus so that our holiness is both conscious and unconscious.