Where God Lives: The Science of the Paranormal and How Our Brains Are Linked to the Universe

Morse, a pediatrician who wrote with Perry the popular Closer to the Light and Transformed by the Light, offers what he believes to be a new understanding of spiritual experience, one that comes from his study of near-death experiences, or NDEs. His observation of hundreds of critically ill children who've survived NDEs leads him to conclude that these children are spiritually more settled than others: ""They trust their intuitions and feel they can connect again with the divine presence they saw when they nearly died."" Drawing on scientific evidence, Morse details how the right temporal lobe of the brain, or the ""God spot,"" enables people to develop their sense of self and find greater fulfillment: ""As one child who nearly died of bacterial meningitis described it, `It's the light that told me who I was and where I was to go.'"" The concludes that prayer would be the most likely means by which a well person could stimulate the right temporal lobe. Once a self-described mainstream-medical skeptic, Morse decides to test his theory (""I included in my prayer that I had to have the answer within a twenty-four-hour period. That way there would be a clear end point, and I wouldn't have to wonder if events during the next several days could be interpreted as God's answer to my question""). Though exuberant in sharing his beliefs, Morse also demonstrates the restraint of a veteran man of science, which will help to make his claims more convincing to those who consulted his earlier works. Agent, Nat Sobel. (Sept.)