Sounds
Originally scheduled for January 18
In the January 2015 edition of
Physics Today there was a short article which presented some
research results on a problem which will undoubtedly grow in
importance. Researchers in South Korea have discovered that the
eerie silence of an electric car can be replaced with sounds which
can make the vehicle sound like a luxury car (or a cheap one); a
sports car (or a very economical one) and so on. The key to the
discovery was that sounds that influence our thinking of about what
kind of car this come in pairs. So, if you want to portray your car
as a luxury car you would take the sound pair and emphasize the
luxury end of the spectrum. None of these things actually make a car
more luxurious or more sporty; but it does make the car
sound more like it.
Of course, we already have this sound
distinction in the cars that are running around the roadways today.
Even blindfold, you could tell the difference between the Ford
pickup and a Mercedes sedan. We are conditioned in this way by our
experience. The researchers in South Korea did not invent the sound
pairs; rather, they discovered them. These things are fairly
consistent throughout the automobile industry. All we are doing here
is providing something which meets your expectations. Your
expectations typically come from three things:
·
Price. You expect them expensive
sedan is going to sound quite different from a cheap little economy
car.
·
Performance. You expect the sports
car is going to sound rather different from an underpowered economy
car.
·
Public relations. The automobile
industry has done quite a bit of work in its advertising to set your
expectations — and not just for sounds, but also for the feel of the
leather and the frost of the air conditioner
in some ways, these three methods of setting
your expectations are also used to form your impressions of
communion.
·
Price. There would be no communion
without the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus on the Cross. Communion is
fittingly solemn, because it commemorates the price he paid for our
salvation.
·
Performance. I hope that you have
experienced this; if not, you really need to give this a try. When
you confess your sins and repent of them He is faithful and just to
forgive your sins. No one else can perform such a thing; communion
is the opportunity for it. “Let a man examine himself…”
·
Public relations. If you have
experienced the salvation and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, you
cannot bury it under a bushel. You should be willing to share it
with one and all. The church is use this method for its public
relations for 2000 years; it still works — if you will.
Take the time here at communion to examine
yourself, confess and repent and receive forgiveness of your Lord.
