10 Things You May Not Know About Your Body

Psalm 139:13-14 David says: "You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

I'm searching through my books to share with you some of the ones that made me sit up in amusement or curiosity, or added something to my life. When I saw the book "Fearfully & Wonderfully Made," I was reminded of the amazing facts I first read about our bodies that were given by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. The intent of the book is to increase our faith, help us to appreciate God's creation, and help us connect once again to the physical world around us.

Here, I'm going to give you 10 things to get you thinking more about your Creator. This list is so minor that I will revisit this book. Quoting from Yancy's introduction: "Hopefully, the book will also offer insight into the mysterious, organic relationship that exists among the people of God. New Testament writers kept drifting back to a single metaphor to express this relationship: the Body of Christ." Dr. Brand says: "I recall the apostle Paul's use of analogy in 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul compares the church of Christ to the human body."  Here you can see what is meant by the many wonders of the body:

1) The body is one unit, though it is made up of many cells, and though all its cells are many, they form one body.

2) The human body grows from the fertilization of a single egg. It is a miracle that a sperm and egg combine in a process that results in a human being.

3) Over nine months the cells divide up functions in exquisite ways: billions of blood cells appear, millions of rods and cones--in all, up to one hundred million million cells form from a single fertilized ovum. Then a baby is born!

4) The small bones in your foot are half the width of a pencil, and yet they support your weight when you're walking.

5) The familiar "seashell" sound when you cup your hand over your ear is actually the sound of blood cells rushing through the capillaries in your head.

6) Your arm has millions of muscle cells expanding and contracting together.

7) Rubbing a finger across your arm will allow you to feel the stimulation of touch cells, 450 of them in one-square-inch patch of skin.

8) Your stomach, spleen, liver, pancreas, and kidneys are packed with loyal cells, working so efficiently that you don't perceive their presence.

9) Fine hairs in your inner ear are monitoring a swishing fluid, ready to alert you if you suddenly tilt off balance.

10) There are nerves for pain and cold and heat and touch, but no nerve gives a sensation of pleasure. Pleasure appears as a by-product of cooperation by many cells.

These 10 facts were taken directly from the book for you to contemplate. Cells specialize and cooperate with each other in order for life to exist. And, as Dr. Brand says, the church of Christ should be doing the same thing. The first step is to understand our Creator's wondrous gifts & blessings within our own bodies!

What do you think of this quotation from Philip Slater, a sociologist? I am quoting it here because the point of this book is that through science and technology, we have gotten away from our connection with nature and so with God. Understanding nature's amazing characteristics allows us to have awe and respect, as well as connection, with our Creator.  Slater says: 
"An enormous technology seems to have set itself the task of making it unnecesary for one human being ever to ask anything of another in the course of going about his daily business. We seek more and more privacy, and feel more and more alienated and lonely when we get it."

Something to think about! Everyone should take time to contemplate these things. It's for the good of ourselves and our families.

Blessings to you all...Mimi