For six weird weeks in the fall of 2004, Udo Wächter had an unerring sense of direction. Every morning after he got out of the shower, Wächter, a sysadmin at the University of Osnabrück in Germany, put on a wide beige belt lined with 13 vibrating pads — the same weight-and-gear modules that make a cell phone judder. On the outside of the belt were a power supply and a sensor that detected Earth's magnetic field. Whichever buzzer was pointing north would go off. Constantly.
"It was slightly strange at first," Wächter says, "though on the bike, it was great." He started to become more aware of the peregrinations he had to make while trying to reach a destination. "I finally understood just how much roads actually wind," he says. He learned to deal with the stares he got in the library, his belt humming like a distant chain saw. Deep into the experiment, Wächter says, "I suddenly realized that my perception had shifted. I had some kind of internal map of the city in my head. I could always find my way home. Eventually, I felt I couldn't get lost, even in a completely new place."
The effects of the "feelSpace belt" — as its inventor, Osnabrück cognitive scientist Peter König, dubbed the device — became even more profound over time. König says while he wore it he was "intuitively aware of the direction of my home or my office. I'd be waiting in line in the cafeteria and spontaneously think: I live over there." On a visit to Hamburg, about 100 miles away, he noticed that he was conscious of the direction of his hometown. Wächter felt the vibration in his dreams, moving around his waist, just like when he was awake.
- Excerpt from 'Mixed Feelings', an article written by Sunny Bains for issue 15.04 (March 2007) of Wired Magazine
"Home" is an important idea to me. It's where I hope to be headed towards as I live each day of my transient life here on earth. It's the soothing hope that I have whenever I am pained while in this fragile, stubborn, and wretched body.
"It's like you get homesick for a place that doesn't exist," said Andrew Largeman in Garden State concerning the lost idea of "home."
Without salvation, Large would be totally correct. There's always going to be a longing for somewhere that is free from worry, tears, and pain in everyone, whether they believe in something or profess not to.
But with salvation we become homesick for a place that does exist, and its significance is relevant to our lives now.
Our desire for our future home is entangled with our lives here on earth. In one sense, this isn't abstract at all. I mean, if you're heading from New York to California to meet someone, your current direction, and your constant diligence in paying attention to your bearings are very important to whether you're going to make it out West or not.
In terms of heaven and our progress towards it, the relationship seems to be a bit different, because we know that no amount of perfection in our progress is going to ultimately get us there. But it appears that something much more subtle and wonderful happens behind the scenes.
So, wouldn't it be great to have one of these "feelSpace belts" to guide us to our eternal home?
I think that the closest thing that we do have to one of these nifty belts is the Bible, which is ironically referred to as the "belt of truth" in Ephesians 6:14. I know that it's such a stale answer. Even as I type this, my heart struggles to really desire this to be true, but I know that it is.
The Word of God holds that map that should be in our heads, and if we really want to head home we would surely do our best to become as familiar as we possibly can with everything in it while we can.
Deep intimacy and familiarity with the Bible grants us this experience. The more embedded the Bible is in our minds and hearts, the more ingrained our sense of "where" heaven is. Our daily decisions, actions, and thoughts would be immersed by this, so that every day is a sure and confident step towards where God wants us to be. No matter what comes our way or where we are placed we would never get lost.
The Bible also reminds us of where our home really is. It is not here on earth. This location in the universe is not our final destination. We "live over there." The implications of this truth should free us from our lusts of financial wealth, social status, and man's approval, among many other poisons that seep into the deepest canyons of our minds.
So, why does knowing where home is matter so much to us now?
"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this." - C.S. Lewis
There are probably countless ways to discuss this lofty notion, but I do believe that understanding and embracing the fact that our home is elsewhere frees us from so many enslaving objects, ideas, and even people while we occupy earth. And when we find more and more freedom from these things, we become more and more free to live out our Christian mandates here in this life.
We are willing to endure pain for others, for causes higher and bigger than us, because we understand that no amount of damage that can be inflicted on our bodies, wallets, or comfort can take away our homecoming. Instead of hoarding earthly riches, energy, and gifts for ourselves, we should desire to expend ourselves to the very last breath in order to ensure that our companions make it home, too.
The wonderful thing about all this is that as this transformation comes about, Christians will actually be bringing heaven closer to earth. Like a multitude of ants inexorably pulling the sun closer to a world of ice, as we bear these heaven-induced fruits, the unwanted things on this earth will begin to melt away and winter will lose its grasp.
And, of course, knowing that our home is heaven as opposed to hell is a very important distinction to make. With the latter, all hope and desire for good in this life dies. With the former, they flourish.
What does this all boil down to?
A renewed devotion to reading the Bible and absorbing it through careful and diligent prayer, meditation, and practice. I struggle with the whole process, and I have not fully attained any of the fruits mentioned above, but I do desire to get to that place.
In a way, I guess this rambling and incoherent post is my humble prayer and recorded conviction.
And it's all thanks to some geek who wrote about some interesting science development. God speaks in the weirdest and most unexpected voices sometimes...
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