An interesting article appeared on the ScienceDaily.com website regarding the latest research on screaming. Yes, members of the scientific community study such things. Researchers at the University of Zurich conducted a series of experiments involving two types of control groups, one doing the screaming and one listening to the screaming.
Those who listened underwent functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) during the experiment. This was to measure “how (participants) perceived, recognized, processed, and categorized the sounds (of different types of screams).” For instance, they listened to screams expressing fear, grief, and aggression. But they also listened to shouts of joy, delight, and triumph.
What did the researchers discover? Human beings are better wired to receive and process shouts of joy and delight than screams of alarm and aggression. Dr. Sascha Frühholz, head of the Department of Psychology, led the research. She stated, “The frontal, auditory and limbic brain regions showed much more activity and neural connectivity when hearing non-alarm screams than when processing alarm screams.”
At first, this doesn’t seem very surprising. Human beings find cries of delight and shouts of joy far more palatable, than cries of anguish and screams of fear. But this is so different from primates and other mammals. Chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, baboons, and many others only scream to express alarms, pain, and aggression. Dr. Fruhholz believes only humans scream to express joy, delight, and triumph.
Think about the implications of this research. There is something altogether unnatural and unpleasant to our ears and brain about screams of anger, fear, and alarm. We’re not wired to hear it. But squeals of delight and shouts of joy find a welcome home in our hearts.
Doesn’t this suggest that we were made for worship – to be with God’s people hearing and giving forth praise to God? Isn’t worship our natural element and practice? Affirming our faith by worshipping God and having it affirmed by the triumphant and joyful shouts of fellow worshippers? We find joy, healing, and relief from oppression by singing and shouting praise to Jesus.
And doesn’t this research further suggest that we were made for heaven, where shouts of joy, victory, and wonder will characterize our existence. In contrast, screams of fear and aggression are so unnatural to us. But in heaven there’ll be no anger, rage, sorrow, grief, or cause to fear.
Not that in heaven we’ll be locked into one long and huge praise service. Heaven will have many experience options. These will include quiet times of reflection and individual walks with Jesus – when He will answer our most troubling questions and express His personal love for us.
Yes, there’ll be plenty of face to face time with Jesus – as much as we desire. And in those precious moments His words will bring healing to our souls. He’ll resolve the painful paradoxes of life. Jesus will review our lives with us and reveal all the many times He protected us from innumerable dangers – to which we were oblivious throughout our earthly sojourn.
Perhaps, for those who’ve always wondered, the Lord will explain all the mysteries of creation. Perhaps He’ll escort us on a tour of all the galaxies and explain the secrets of space – things of which all our scientific inquiry has only scratched the surface.
But the inevitable response to all that Christ does in our hearts and reveals to our minds will be a joyful eruption of worship. And where will we feel freer to worship, with shouts of joy and triumph, than in the company of the saints of all ages?
What a glorious experience heaven will be! Let’s serve God all the more fervently and submit to His discipline more joyfully, to maximize our joy, worship, and fellowship in heaven.
PRAYER: Almighty and merciful Father, You have created me for Yourself and there is nothing which will be more natural to me or bring more joy than to sing Your praises and to bless Your name forever. Prepare me, O God, for eternity with You by conforming me into the image of Your Son and teaching me to worship You in this dreary world below. Tune my heart and voice to sing heaven’s anthems, I pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
(Information from: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/04/210413144922.htm)
