As much as science and faith seem to be at odds, sometimes science and logic contribute to faith. When it comes to the functioning and capacity of our brains, science may provide the clues to understanding how our faith is justified.

Science has come a long way in understanding how the brain functions. Over the years, it has become possible to identify the specific areas of the brain that are responsible for particular functions like eyesight, hearing, taste, or any number of bodily activities. What is less understood is the capacity for memory.

How can we remember so much, and what has that to do with our faith?

There are rare individuals who demonstrate the ability to recall specific events associated with a particular date and time. If we analyze that ability, we would recognize that such an ability is more than numeric. It involves images or mini-video clips of that event. And that’s a lot of data.

If we consider a person with that remarkable ability who lives to be 70 years old, we could calculate that memory would encompass more than 18 million minutes of waking hours. Multiply that by the data storage needs to store all the visual and audio records of those minutes and the numbers become astronomical.

What is equally amazing is the fact that all of us have the experience of having some random thought, image, or even a song on the radio, trigger a long-lost memory, much like a keyword brings up information in a computer search. How does that happen?

As much as the average person is boggled by the ability of our computer technology to store huge amounts of data on tiny devices, we accept the science that says it works. But it is highly unlikely that mankind has developed the ability to store those astronomical numbers that a lifetime of memories represents.

Once we begin to analyze the human brain, we see a three-pound mass of a gelatine-like substance that we are told contains all that data with room for more. While we have become accustomed to technological miracles of our advanced culture, the idea that an organic mass can house such an enormous amount of information seems impossible.

Perhaps there is another explanation – an explanation that meshes neatly with our faith.

One of our more recent advances in computer technology is the concept of storage of data in remote files. The “cloud” storage allows an individual computer to process and manipulate data without using up all the storage space. This allows more room for operating instructions or apps.

Perhaps the human brain acts similarly. Perhaps the human brain acts more like the operating system for the human form. Perhaps the human brain acts like the remote terminal and the storage of memories involves  the “cloud” of the spirit realm.

That would explain a lot. If our memories exist as forms of energy in an unlimited universe, there would be no restrictions on the volume of data that could be accessed and no limit on the number of personalities whose memories could exist simultaneously.

Perhaps that random memory is just stored out there in God’s cloud, just waiting for you to retrieve it.