Do you ever think about sleep? I do. I was diagnosed with sever sleep apnea several years ago. I sleep with a piece of technology that frankly has changed my life.
I remember the night I went to the hospital to be tested. I was all wired up and was asked to go to sleep. Seriously? With 100 wires and connections all over me, go to sleep. I finally dosed off and remember being awakened by the tech. Mr. Henry, Mr. Henry, I need to come in and add the sleep machine.
What! I was already tired and ready to continue my good nights rest, or so I thought.
The tech very kindly put this machine on my face and turned it on. I couldn't breath! Take it off! It felt like when you stick your head out the window of a fast moving vehicle (not recommended) and the rushing air is literally taking your breath a way.
It took me some time but I finally fell asleep. And, you know what? I still remember that dream. I was back in college, sitting in chapel, listening to the preacher. The dream ended and I woke up. Wow! I couldn't believe how I felt. In that short hour or two I had gone through my first neural trash emptying in probably a decade! Now, not that my sitting in chapel 30+ years ago was trash, it was my body doing exactly what it was designed to do. Something that the apnea had prevented it from doing for many years.
This NYT article on Goodnight, Sleep Clean gives some great insight into studies around sleep. God has designed our bodies, specifically our brains, to use sleep to do daily cleaning. When, as was in my case, we weren't getting that cleaning, my body was wearing down and destroying itself.
You may ask, how does this have to do with faith and tech? Remember the technology I was using, the CPAP machine? Pretty simple, this relatively simple technology enabled my body to return to a daily sleep state. My faith was directly affected by my sleep. How so?
You see, if you've ever had sleep deprivation, you start having panic attacks, higher levels of anger and frustration, and the list goes on. Interesting to think about the fruits of the spirit being manifested through a body with not enough sleep to a body with sleep. What a joy to live in a day when God grants His grace to doctors and technicians to provide technology that speaks directly to our faith. These bits of technology, or can I call them manifestations of His grace, enabling our body to work as designed directly by the Creator.
