Biometrics and Jesus

So today is one of 'those' Saturdays. Its a crash course in online homework because I didn't get a blessed bit of anything but algebra done during the week. That means its a day steeped in Child Psych, Western Civ, and my very very LEAST favorite subject of all time, Computer Fundamentals. The other two are ok and I actually rather enjoy some parts of them. But this computer class... Anyone who knows me well knows that I'm one of those 'dinosaurs' who still uses a regular cell phone simply because she HaTeS trying to get used to new technology. SO... I rather dislike the class. Today though I have to face and deal with it. I had an assignment this week to write on one of a longish list of options, fortunately for me, biometrics was on that list. Biometrics has just enough of a medicalish feel to it that I can get interested in it. I was rather intrigued by the time I finished and my head was slap full of other ways that the principals of it apply to life, so I decided to share it.

Biometrics

Biometrics is defined as the technology of authenticating a person's identity by verifying a personal characteristic. The devices which employ this technology take one specific characteristic of an individual and use a stored replica of it to identify that person. There are devices that recognize finger

prints, eyes, faces, voices, and even behavior characteristics such as gate or typing pattern.Lets look at a few of these devices and how they are used. The most widely used biometric

device today is the fingerprint reader. This is a small device which captures the details of a fingerprint.These tiny devices connect to computers or notebooks and are used to grant access to authorized users.It is the same idea as a user name and password only more secure. A device frequently used by businesses to secure resource rooms is a face recognition system. Images stored in the system are used to identify the people seeking entrance to a room and only those who are already in the system are

allowed in. A voice verification system compares a persons live spoken words with what it has stored and evaluates tones and patterns of speech to identify the person. Many companies also use this technology for access to sensitive files and networks. Signature verification systems use a specialized pen and tablet to identify the shape of a handwritten signature. They also measure the pressure and speed someone uses to write their signature which helps to ensure that it is indeed the same person

writing their own signature. Again, these systems are used to provide access for authorized users.Some of the most fascinating inventions in this field are the iris recognition system and the retinal scanner. These devices are used to read patterns in a person's eye. The retina scanner actually scans patterns of blood vessels in the back of the retina! The iris recognition system reads patterns in the iris of the eye to identify someone. Iris and retina identification systems are used primarily in very high

security settings.

I find biometrics to be a thoroughly fascinating subject because it is so detailed and intricate.Stealing a simple password is difficult enough, but it is impossible to reconstruct your fingerprints, eyes, face, or voice to match that of another human being. No two people are identical and this technology uses that fact to increase security and help ensure the safety of all of us.

As I researched and wrote about this subject this niggling idea kept rolling around the periphery of my skull. As I thought it out I realized that it is actually a very profound idea. (Well, it feels profound to me) I think that biometrics has a lot to teach us about how we as humans work and maybe how God works too. 

What is the one thing that most of us have that we protect the most fiercely? Pain. Maybe its a new hurt. A cutting remark made by someone close to us. Maybe its some deep wound or age old sorrow. Maybe its a lack we have in our lives, a loneliness or longing. Maybe its lies that we believe about who we are or are not because of a relationship gone bad. Whatever our deepest pain may be, humans mostly deal with them the same. We lock them up tight in our hearts and set up intricate security systems so that they are completely unreachable to the majority of the world around us. Generally it takes a great deal of authorization and red tape for anyone to get into that place and know our secrets. The process often takes months or years and most people don't have that kind of love and patience so the process gets started and broken off again and again and each time that happens we make it a bit more secure and we go on living with that locked up room inside ourselves. But there is One. There is One who our security systems can not foil. One who our internal biometric technology recognizes and Who is allowed in whether we know Him or not. There is One who knows every heart, every secret, every silent scream. We still have the control over whether He will be allowed to change, heal, help that hurt. But we have no say so over whether or not He knows our secrets and hurts. He simply does. He was there when it happened and He is hard wired in. This fact is both comforting and terrifying. It is also challenging because it means that we, as children and followers of Jesus Christ, have access to that knowing. Because He lives in us, we should have His eyes, His touch, His voice, His signature. He should flow out of us to the world around us. Do you ever see someone and your heart catches inside you and you feel a deep stab of sorrow for them? Did you ever consider that maybe that is the Spirit of God wanting to use you to get past that person's security system? How much healing, how much peace, could we bring to the world around us if we just USED what He gives us. If we let Him heal the broken places in us so that we could know His healing power and know the amazing gift that we have to offer the hurting around us... Jesus never tires of loving us. He never gives up. He never is just done being our Friend or being with us. Can we love like that? Give like that? Through His power, yes. And through His power we can affect lives.

Another place that can only be accessed by Jesus is heaven. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. NO MAN cometh unto the Father but by Me." There is no other way. When we stand before God on Judgement day, He will not judge us based on who we are or what we did or how often we went to church. He will judge us based on whether it is us He sees, or His Son in us. Everything we do, every moment of our days, all that we are, should be under the control of Jesus. When we stand before God, if we have not lived looking at the world through Jesus' eyes, touching the world with Jesus's hands, speaking to those around us with Jesus' voice... On our own we are not ok. That is why Christ died. He died to give us life, to give us the capacity to lead others to the life that He offers, and to give us life forever with Him. When He looks into your eyes, when you lay your hand in His, when you speak His name, will He recognize the eyes, hands, and voice of Jesus Christ? There is no pretending then. We can fool others, we can live an entire life looking and acting like those around us think we should. But we can never fool God. Not today, not tomorrow, and not when we face Him on judgement day.