10 Dec, 2008
Invasion of the body swappers
Karl Ritter
Shaking hands with yourself is an amusing out-of-body experience. The illusion of having your stomach slashed with a knife, not so much.
Both sensations, however, felt real to most participants in a Swedish science project exploring how people can be tricked into the false perception of owning another body.
In a study presented yesterday, neuroscientists at Stockholm's renowned Karolinska Institute show how they got volunteers wearing virtual reality goggles to experience the illusion of swapping bodies with a mannequin and a real person.
- AP
(For the ful story visit: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/strange-but-true/news/article.cfm?c_id=500835&objectid=10546455&ref=rss)
Reality vs. The Really Real
1 Corinthians 13:12 (New Living Translation)
Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
What does God's Story scripture teach us about what God has in store for us?
First Corinthians was written by Paul to a group of Christians in the city of Corinth. The Christians at Corinth had some messed up ideas on what God wanted, because of their culture. Corinth served as a center of worship for the Aphrodite - the goddess of love. The love Aphrodite represtented was not the love God had in mind. Her love was shallow and stopped at the physical level. God had something deeper in mind.
When Paul wrote verse 12 he had just finished explaining what real love was, the love that God intended. Paul wants his readers to understand what real love is about. He also understands that we aren't going to fully get it until we stand in the presence of God, because sin has clouded what God desired for us.
Paul also offered this as a hope that we would fully know the love God has for us, when we focus fully on Him.
How can we connect today's God's Story to our lives?
What better way to connect God's story to our lives then to make it part of our lives? The Psalmist wrote "I have hidden your word in my heart... (Psalm 119:11 TNIV). Make today's God's Story part of you with these tips:
- Memorize 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
- Read 1 Corinthians 13 aloud. (If possible, look in a mirror while you read.)
- Say a prayer of gratitude for the reality God has to offer. Ask Him to teach you how to love like chapter 13 describes.
How can we connect today's story, God's Story scripture, and our story to others?
- Use today's story to start a conversation about the ways we create an alternate reality - video game systems, online games, movies.
- Share with your friend how God offers the truest reality, and how we act independent of God to create our own alternate reality.
- Share with your friend what you would see in a mirror if it reflected all aspects of your life (physical, mental, social and spiritual). Ask what it would show about them.
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