'Science Mike' McHargue Pens New Book, FINDING GOD IN THE WAVES

McHargue's story starts at age 25, when he was a deacon in the largest denomination of the Conservative Evangelic movement: the Southern Baptist Convention. Comfortable in his faith, with a beautiful wife and kids, he felt like he had all of the answers about his God, the world, and what's right. McHargue's life came to a startling halt when his dad called a family meeting to announce the end of his parents' marriage. And when McHargue turned to the Bible for help, he came up short (to say the least) on answers.

He became a closeted atheist-showing up to church on Sunday mornings, and then going home to argue on the Internet about Richard Dawkins and intelligent design behind the backs of the people he loved the most. It would take a mystical experience years later-the same week as a VIP trip to NASA, I might add-on the shores of the Pacific Ocean to prompt McHargue to reexamine his faith. But this time, it was science-not the Bible or the wisdom of theologians-that led him back to faith.

McHargue's accidental odyssey prompted questions about science and faith, and he found answers in unlikely places. His first glimpse of a God he could trust came from the books written by modern (and generally atheistic) cosmologists. Later, McHargue found a God he could love and experience by studying the emerging work of neuroscientists who study the brains of the faithful. He spoke often with prominent religious figures such as Rob Bell and Don Miller, grieved the loss of the Church, and even created his own axioms to better understand the human brain and God. The effects were profound.

McHargue can discuss brain based ideas:

• The human brain is the most complex intricate arrange of matter in the known universe, according to human brains.
• There are around 86 billion neurons in our brains, organized into hundreds of structures that have competing goals and priorities.
• Our consciousness is a consensus formed by these structures, and that's why we often have competing priorities: we want to be thin later and have pizza now. That's different brain structures at work.
• In fact, our brains are so divided that people whose corpus callosum (called split-brained patients) has been severed in surgery can experience alien hand syndrome-a condition where one hand often acts on its own!
• We're in an age of spiritual seekers, and split-brain patients shed light on it: one patient's two hemispheres had different opinions about the existence of God. A theist and an atheist in one skull!

Full of insights about the universe, as well as deeply personal reflections on our desire for certainty and meaning, FINDING GOD IN THE WAVES is a vital exploration of the possibility of knowing God in an age of reason. As McHargue writes in the book, "You can know God intimately while acknowledging the mystery, even the absurdity, of such a notion. . . . You can be part of the global body of people who follow God without turning off your brain or believing things that go against your conscience. . . . And you can meet a risen Son of God named Jesus while wondering how such a thing could ever be true."

On an issue that's starved for voices, McHargue's voice on the page is engaging, and readers will find comfort in his relatable (and often self-deprecating) sense of humor. Merging the best of science and religion writing, he is a popularizer with a gift for explaining scientific concepts in lucid, interesting pictures that open layreaders to the wonder of the world around them.

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