If man is the measure of all things, as the Greek philosopher Protagoras said, we may be measuring “things” by a very small measure, something like using a yardstick to measure the distance from Chicago to Moscow.

Take our brains. Neuroscientists study the activities of the brain and the nervous system. Studies have focused on the functioning of the parts of the brain, such as how they interact and specialize. Some studies have looked at the reactions of the human brain to other humans. These social activities appear to occur on another level, a more complex one. It includes the parts of the brain, but is more than the sum of the parts, this interaction between two humans.

We can prove that humans exist in the scientific sense, but God cannot be seen or studied the way a human brain can. So what of the claims of those of us who are Christian that we can interact with God? We might look at this idea as one that leads us to yet another level, beyond human interaction, one that faith opens to us.

Social interaction moves a person’s focus from self to another. Faith changes the perspective even further, from examining the inhabitants of a thin atmosphere on a small planet to—what? Perhaps to a spiritual level that cannot be quantified but can be experienced.