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Protection

Breakthrough S2: Ep 1 and 2 – Protect Thyself

May 10, 2017 by J. Alan Sharrer Leave a Comment

Eighteen months ago, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard decided to spearhead a series on National Geographic Channel involving advances in scientific technology.  Entitled Breakthrough, each episode was created by a specific director and tackled a unique aspect of how science could help society in general. The series was recently renewed for a second season (10PM/9 CT on Tuesdays), providing the viewing audience six more glimpses into a world where science meets life head-on.

The first episode aired last week and centered around an issue many people deal with on a daily basis: addiction.  This doesn’t necessarily refer to drugs or tobacco, but can also refer to cell phone usage, selfies, or other items/hobbies that become “something more” to a person.  There are numerous ways addictions can be dealt with, but the episode focused on an experimental technique—psychedelic drugs such as LSD, Ibogaine, or Psilocybin (magic mushrooms).  The treatment is not for all, that’s for sure—but in the three cases shown, director David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon) made the treatment process look absolutely spellbinding.  The episode was definitely not what I expected, but was intriguing nevertheless.

Cyber terror was the subject of the second episode—an issue many of us summarily dismiss as something that can’t happen to us.  Target doesn’t think so after seeing their online system compromised a number of years ago with millions of credit card numbers exposed for the world to use.  It doesn’t take a lot to break into a computer – a simple USB drive can wreak all sorts of havoc.  However, there are white hat hackers who legally help companies secure their networks by attempting to break into them.  They have lots of work to do—major companies’ detection rate of cyberattacks is only 6%, and when they do find something, it takes seven months to find it.   In fact, by 2019, cyberattacks will cost the global economy $2 trillion dollars. It needs to be fixed now.

To make things worse, director Steven Hoggard (Inside the Green Berets) reveals that cybercriminals (black hat hackers) are using encryption-based devices to recruit people into terrorist groups such as ISIS. Some have even been able to hack into US Central Command!  Some journalists in the UK havegone undercover to help stop this from occurring, using a similar technique to how criminals were caught on the show To Catch a Predator.  Do they always succeed?  Not quite. But stopping one attack is better than none.  That’s why it’s always important to protect oneself from the attacks of enemies who cannot be seen.  It sounds eerily like what Paul told the church in Ephesus when describing the armor of God.  The various components—helmet, breastplate, sword, and other elements—protect a Christian from the attacks of the devil and his minions (see Ephesians 6:11-20). Protection can be a good thing—we just need to be aware of the problem and prepare accordingly.

Filed Under: Current Events, Reviews, Television Tagged With: addiction, Armor of God, black hat, Breakthrough, Brian Grazer, Cyber Terror, David Lowery, drugs, Ephesus, Inside the Green Berets, ISIS, Paul, Pete's Dragon, Protection, Ron Howard, Steven Hoggard, Target, USB Drive, white hat

Origins Ep. 6 – The Importance of Shelter

April 17, 2017 by J. Alan Sharrer Leave a Comment

(photo credit: National Geographic)

Humans are quite good at building things. During the last century or so, we’ve created numerous machines and devices that allow modern life to prosper—and even thrive.  We’ve constructed massive skyscrapers, allowing people to live and work closer together than ever before.  We’ve even created incredibly small devices that may, in the future, revolutionize how we take care of individuals who are sick.  And yet, at the end of the day, we all want to go somewhere that has a roof to protect us from the elements, allows us to spend quality family time, and offers us security from intruders while we sleep.

In short, we want shelter.  In the sixth episode of Origins (NatGeo, 9 PM/8PM CT), the discussion centers around this basic aspect of life many take for granted. You see, the spaces we exist in are reflections of who we are and windows into what our culture holds dear.

The early days of humanity were challenging to live in. Hunter-gatherers found caves or created their own spaces out of animal bones covered in furs to protect not only their close families, but other members of their community. It seems that once people are comfortable in their surroundings, they begin to develop a sense of identity—and the hearth was one place this occurred.  Dwellings later allowed for individual privacy—something unheard of. Again, people didn’t have to merely attempt to survive hour by hour; they could explore other options for their lives.  Glass windows allowed natural light to penetrate a house, eliminated the need for candles during the daytime, and helped to regulate temperature (thanks, Rome!). Faith communities saw the potential for larger buildings and natural light to help draw attention to themselves—a great example of this is the Durham Cathedral in England.

Advances continued to be made over the centuries, none bigger than the Otis safety elevator in the 19th century.  Now buildings could be taller than ever while still offering safe spaces to live (and as a bonus, the most prized location in a building moved from the bottom floor to the top).  In the outlying areas of New York, a pair of brothers in 1947 created plans for Levittown, the precursor to modern-day suburbia.  The keys to these shelters were safety and community—something we will end up treasuring and coveting well into the future.

(photo credit: National Geographic)

I personally found this episode of Origins to be intriguing, as I never considered the effect just having a consistent form of shelter could have on an individual.  If you’re not having to worry about surviving, your pursuits of life can vary.  Those pursuits can be beneficial not only to one family, but people around the world. Imagine how different life might be if Thomas Edison had to go from place to place attempting to kill animals for food or figure out how to get his clothes clean daily.  Jesus told us not to worry about the intricacies of life, but seek the Kingdom of God first (see Matthew 6:33). To do that, however, one should be in a safe place where they can be silent and listen to God’s voice—consider the cave experience of Elijah as an example (see 1 Kings 19).  It goes to show the importance of shelter.  Protection and community allow us to become the people God wants us to be.

Filed Under: Current Events, Reviews, Television Tagged With: community, Durham Cathedral, Elijah, Jesus, Levittown, National Geographic, Origins, Otis Elevator, Protection, Rome, Safety, Shelter, Skyscrapers, Windows

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