At a particularly embattled and exhausting moment in my life, in a hospital emergency room after a brief evaluation by a psychiatric nurse and recommended for admission to a psychiatric unit, I took a brief trip, spiritually and psychologically, to another “place.” It was a vaguely familiar place, recognizable from the shape, lights, and feel….. It was into a realm shaped like a geodesic dome. My only two frameworks for recognizing it from my own experience was a radar facility dome I had passed many times in route to my grandparents’ homes in Alabama and a trip to Disney’s Epcot Center theme park where I had ridden on the Spaceship Earth roller coaster inside the dark interior with its triangular-shaped panels and the outlines of them lit by tiny bulbs one observes from inside the dome.
Lying on the gurney in the emergency room, my mind was whisked away to such a dark, but illuminatingly-outlined place. I heard a Voice there that said to me, “If this too hard you don’t have to do it.” I was exhausted at that point. I had endured two months of battling multi-sensory symptoms of psychosis that had arisen rather suddenly, leaving me confused and with many questions. How had this happened? Why? Would I get over it? How long would it last? Would I ever function normally again? My family was frightened. I was confused but grateful to finally have gotten to the point of realizing I could not get out of this crazy-jack-in-the-box, “What’s going to pop up next?” place in my mind by myself. I needed help. I knew God had been present to me during it all and I was confident in His Presence with me in that moment.
When my racing and out-of-control mind went to that quiet, dark place, I felt safe and the tiny lights outlining triangular patterns were curiously fascinating. Then I heard the Voice speak and for a hairbreadth’s second I thought I was being given permission to die. I had had two other brief encounters with thinking I might die physically, once at 14 and once at 21. But this was different. I had not felt physically at risk. I had never had suicidal thoughts. I shook it off and replied to the voice. “I want to get well. I want my life back. We have a grand baby due in a few days. I have things to do.” As quickly as I had teleported psychically to that interior, but very other-worldly realm, I was back on the gurney in the ER. with my husband and my pastor beside me.
Later I would tell the Christian counselor to whom I was assigned for intensive therapy about that moment. I told her it seemed I was in the deepest place of my own identity… spirit and soul…. and God met me there. She said that she believes that at such stressing times as what I had experienced, one does have to go really deep in herself and ask the question, “Do I have the will and determination to fight for my mental and physical health, for my life, or am I going to give up?”
It made sense to me. Later I came to see that there are three deaths possible and one must make a choice in each domain, if she is to be whole and integrated…..
1.) death of spirit in disconnection from God out of fear, guilt, ignorance, or rebellion
2.) Death of soul (mind, emotions, will, personality, and conscience) in disconnection to one’s own self by lack of self-examination of motives, lack of self-awareness of will, lack of understanding of one’s values, beliefs, and desires, lack of wisdom, or hardness of heart from pain.
3.) Death of body by disconnection to one’s physical senses, lack of self-care, and lack of knowledge of functions and risks to healthfulness.
I came through that rough season and gained tremendous insights and benefits in every area of my life from it all once I had processed it and integrated the lessons into my new way of viewing myself, God, life, relationships, etc.
I think a geodesic dome is a good metaphor for strength of self-identity and ability to withstand pressures, resist total collapse, and respond with resilience.
When Hurricane Michael destroyed our church in October 2018, I stood in the parking lot that Sunday morning after the Cat 5 storm 5 days earlier and I began to cry my first tears since the disaster. I looked at the strips of metal roofing rolled back like the lids on sardine cans and its bare metal frame exposed. All the ceiling structure inside was hanging in shreds, draped over the horizontal metal beams, walls, and furnishings like paper mache’ icicles in the interior of our sacred sanctuary space. Its structural frailties were exposed and explained somewhat why we had experienced ongoing roof leak issues with the new building almost immediately since moving there in April 2004.
While the metal and brick components could likely have been retained in reconstructing the church, the massive degree of interior damage from the roof failure and the rapid onset of mold in the humid and warm environment of Northwest Florida soon made it clear the cost of mitigation and reconstruction would be prohibitive, well beyond even replacement policy insurance limits, especially in light of such a demanding broad-scale community disaster where resources were stretched far beyond capability for restoring even just the bare necessities of recovery for the first year. Nothing can prepare one for the potential damage of a Category 5 assault, it seems.
Some research on geodesic domes did not disappoint.
“The Strength Of Geodesic Domes:
Robert Buckminister Fuller or simply Bucky drew inspiration from nature to come up with an alternative to conventional housing that was incredibly much stronger. Driven by his desire to improve housing for humanity and his profound knowledge in energetic-synergetic geometry, he was able to invent geodesic domes. Geodesic domes have several advantages when compared to conventional housing structures. They include affordability, ease of assembly, energy efficiency, versatility, strength and sustainability. In this article, we shall narrow down on the strength of geodesic domes.
Ancient Domes
Dome structures have been in existence from time immemorial in the human world. Ancient Romans built magnanimous dome structures such as The Pantheon, The Apse and The Madonna Di Campagna that utilized the inherent strength of arch shapes. These domes however, were very heavy and prone to falling at a moment’s notice. They were built with massive walls to keep them from falling.
Enter Geodesic Domes
Geodesic Domes on the other hand not only utilize the inherent strength of arch shapes but also have triangular rigidity makes them very strong and resistant to falling or crushing. This breakthrough was first made by Walter Bauersfeld in 1926 but was intensely publicized by the eccentric Bucky some two decades afterwards.
Inspiration From Nature
While coming up with the mathematics and geometry of geodesic domes, Bucky drew inspiration from nature. The shell of an egg is very light and brittle. It is however very strong when it is in the shape of an egg. A box on the other hand is made of relatively heavier and stronger material. In the shape of a box however, it succumbs to distortion easily in the face of compression forces.
The Power of The Triangle
The shape of a triangle makes it very strong and able to withstand heavy loads. Indeed triangles are the strongest of all shapes known to man. Box structures, which are the typical conventional homes, on the other hand are easily distorted by heavy loads. When many triangles are connected to form the shell of a dome, they translate to tremendous strength which makes them self supporting. This in turn eliminates the need for supporting structures. The tremendous strength is as a result of triangles distributing strength evenly across the entire structure. Rectangular or box structures for that matter distribute loads at right angles making them considerably weaker.
Structural Integrity of Geodesic Domes
Most people find it incredulous to fathom the structural integrity of geodesic domes. This is especially because the materials used to make geodesic domes are significantly light. That is why they have very large strength to weight ratios. Any stress applied to a geodesic dome will be distributed evenly across it. This includes stress from tornados, earthquakes and snow loading. Their strength in turn increases as the size of the structure increases. This means that they get stronger as they get bigger!
Shifting The Mindset
Despite the incredible strength of geodesic domes, many people fail to appreciate them. Bucky envisioned a world devoid of housing problems. People need to wrestle from the shackles of the obsolete building paradigm and adopt geodesic domes. (https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/backgrounders/why-a-triangle-a-strong-shape)”
How do we as spiritual, mental, and physical healing agents under authority of God seek to rehabilitate and restore damaged people? Are we doing it with informed awareness of the construction of a “whole” human being by God as spirit, soul, and body? Where are our blueprints, our models, our case studies, our continuing education resources? And are we wise enough, studied enough, vulnerable enough, humble to let God guide us in acquiring the knowledge of structures, processes. and stresses that is necessary?