Let's look at the strong connection between the physical and the spiritual.

In September 1848, a 25-year-old railroad foreman, Phineas P. Gage, was using an iron rod to pack explosive powder into a hole when a powerful blast propelled the 13-pound tamping iron like a bullet through his head. 

Amazingly, this traumatic accident didn’t kill Phineas. In fact, he regained his physical strength and lived for another 13 years. He also seemed mentally sound — he could speak and do physical tasks just as well as before, and his memory seemed unimpaired.

But friends and family knew he was no longer the same man. 

Before the accident, he was a well-loved, responsible worker and husband. He was known by all as a pious and dependable man. But after the accident, Phineas experienced a major moral decline. 

He became very short tempered, rude, and foul mouthed. He started to smoke and drink and lost all respect for spiritual things. It seemed as though his ethical filters had been turned off.

Phineas' accident ended up costing him his moral standards and his commitment to loved ones. Researchers have concluded that he had lost a very important part of his brain called the frontal lobe — a section of the brain that’s responsible for moral reasoning, judgment, social behavior, and spirituality. Amazingly, the Bible even talks about a "mark" in the forehead that can mean the difference between life and death!

Caring for our bodies and being discerning about the foods we eat protects our frontal lobes and can help prevent us from becoming a Phineas.

If you'd like to see a short video about Phineas, please click here.