I was reading an interesting question on a discussion board the other night. The board was a place where medical students and residents pose questions to each other. The question had to do with whether supplemental oxygen can address shortness of breath in cases when a patient has pump failure or COPD (assuming at the same time), the patient has adequate O2 arterial saturation. In the event that some readers have wondered about this themselves, providing O2 per mask or cannula can not resolve shortness of breath under these assumptions.
From there, my mind wandered to the many organs and systems in the human body and I wondered at their normal and compensatory functions, reflexes, sentinel signals and so on. For example, how do our eyes perceive a million different colors, hues and shades. Why is that? Then there is proprioception. Proprioception can be defined as
“a sense that provides information about the location of various parts of the body in relation to each other and the surroundings.”
I knew someone many years ago whose septuagenarian husband had early-stage dementia and would drive around the parking lot at Sam’s in their SUV. Their car was at least six feet wide. Yet, he would try to squeeze it into a space barely a third of that width, enough for a shopping cart perhaps, but that is all. She told me how she’d be screaming at him to stop at the top of her lungs! Her husband had perhaps lost his sense of proprioception. We are living our lives in a 3 + 1 dimensional world. These dimensions are length, width, and height (plus time.) However, the fourth dimension (time) only affects us obliquely and we don’t experience the full effect of it (fortunately, as the link above will explain.)
So, we find ourselves in an environment that is entirely sufficient for our existence, lacking nothing, but minus parameters that would confuse us or make life more difficult.
In nature, there are similar curiosities. Snakes which cannot hear in the normal sense of the word have warning systems to ward off predators that can hear. The Echinococcus tapeworm requires two hosts to grow and reproduce. One host (the definitive host) involves wolves, foxes and other canines and the other host involves sheep, cows and related ungulates. Take away one of the two species (hosts) and the tapeworm becomes extinct. How would Darwin account for that? How did the Echinococcus species live before the two host species emerged?
Returning to humans, some systems such as the muscular skeletal system seem simple enough. Others, like the neurological system, where electrical impulses travel at 250 miles per hour through our bodies are intricately more elaborate. So is the endocrine system in a way, because no single gland functions in a vacuum. It is difficult for me to understand how through evolution, trillions of cells could emerge from a single cell and produce a living person ex nihilo in less than 14 billion years. So, I wanted to tour a couple of these systems and unpack my thoughts in the context of a Bible verse in Psalm 139:14(a) where David writes:
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;”
This passage is strongly linked to the next thought that crossed King David’s mind, verse 15 (“My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.“) which itself is linked to the word “womb” in other verses. Perhaps the object of the verb refers to Adam who was not born of woman and might he have been made below the surface of the Earth? But regardless of whether the term is translated as “depths of the earth” or “womb,” both terms emphasize an environment enshrouded in darkness. This notion of darkness is reinforced elsewhere.
The passage brought to mind (my mind in any event), the workshop of the Greek god Hephaestus, the god of forges, fire, metalworking and metallurgy who labored tirelessly in his gloomy dark lair beneath the Earth. Hephaestus was several millennia ahead of his peers in terms of his vision and his talent. He made many lifelike devices. Some appeared convincingly human in every respect (e.g. the young woman Pandora who was a android) while other robots flew, such as the giant eagle that tormented Prometheus. The Argonaut Jason said that when the eagle flew over his ship at great height, the power of its wings filled the sails of the ship with wind!
But Hephaestus had a deformity involving his feet or legs which made him persona non grata in the company of the other gods of Olympus, so he rarely ventured out of his workshop. But, again, he was capable of designing and manufacturing great inventions that we cannot yet produce. Of course, these are myths and the ancient Greeks were far from technologically savvy. Beyond androids and robots, the contraptions Hephaestus produced included the chariot of Helios, the armor of Achilles, the bow and arrows of Cupid, the winged helmet and sandals of Hermes and many more.
Continuing . . .
David, in Psalm 139:13 (passim) credits God with personally having formed (“knit”) the child in utero. The question for theologians and philosophers today is at what point in this knitting process does the soul join the body? At conception? When the child takes its first breath? The answer to this question could have enormous implications and consequences. There is an ancient stream of rabbinic thought which says that there is a repository of souls in heaven which have never experienced life on Earth, and that God calls for a soul which He then assigns to a specific infant at the appointed time. It does not seem plausible that new souls are being created today after the fall of Creation. That would suggest that what God creates today is corrupt or imperfect. And we know from Genesis 2:1-3 that the creation process ended long ago. If those verses are not convincing, we also have the First Law in physics which says that energy cannot be created or destroyed, though it can be transferred. We know from Einstein that energy and matter are interchangeable. Perhaps it is through this Law that God works his miracles?
In spite of Jewish Kabbalistic notions such as the pre-existance of the soul, there no suggestion in Scripture of reincarnation. As it is written in Hebrews 9:27:
“And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment . . .”
Those Christians who nevertheless believe in reincarnation or purgatory see it as a means of progressive sanctification, where second and third opportunities abound in order to close the distance between our sinful nature and God’s holiness. However, according to Paul this has already been done. In I Corinthians 6:11 he writes:
“. . . you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Paul notes that this happened earlier in our Christian lives and need not be looked forward to, or repeated.
But, back to our bodies . . .
OUR BODIES HAVE HEALING ABILITIES
Our bodies have amazing recuperative and healing abilities. According to Discover Magazine:
“Our bodies have impressive healing skills in a variety of ways. Bones can heal themselves; skin constantly replaces itself; the brain can make new connections thanks to neuroplasticity; lungs can generate healthy cells when someone quits smoking. But the liver has truly incredible self-repair capabilities. It can actually regenerate. After surgery, the liver can regenerate two-thirds of its volume in as little as a few weeks.”
These processes occur through the work of stem cells in our body. Unfortunately, there are limits to what can be accomplished. For example, necrotic heart tissue unfortunately cannot presently be regenerated to restore healthy, functional tissue. Yet, there is promise here in the area of stem cell research as well.
YOUR SKIN
Your skin is the largest organ of your body and it covers your entire body. If you are of average weight and height, you have about 3,000 square inches covering you. Your skin can detect minute changes in temperature, pressure and humidity, as well as the movement of almost imperceptible whisps of air. The nerves in your skin allow you to experience pain, which is actually a good thing. For example, I knew a diabetic lady once with life long diabetes (she was in her late sixties.) Her uncontrolled diabetes by then made it impossible for the skin on her feet to feel any stimuli at all. She stepped on a sharp corner of her grandchild’s toy once and developed a serious infection because she did not know she had injured herself and could not tell days later that a serious infection had set in (until it was too late.)
Lovers know that they enjoy skin-to-skin contact, but perhaps they don’t know why.
“Skin-to-skin contact holds immense potential to positively influence our mental well-being. By engaging in physical touch, we release oxytocin, forge deeper connections, reduce stress, and promote emotional regulation.”
YOUR EYES
The pupils of your eyes adjust like the shutters in a camera. In bright light they constrict so that too much light does not enter. In the dark or twilight, they expand. You may not know this, but if you were on the planet Mars, days would be as bright as they are on the Earth even though Mars is so much further from the Sun than the Earth is. However, your pupils would be larger on Mars as well to accommodate the difference in available light.
COMPENSATORY MECHANISMS
When a person gets in an accident and injures an arm of leg causing them to lose blood, their body springs into action. Sensory nerve cells in the victims arteries sense the fall in blood pressure and signal motor cells (called neurons) throughout the body to contract, maintaining blood pressure (all other things being equal.) If necessary, the heart beats faster as well to keep circulation from collapsing and to get more clot-forming platelets to the breeched blood vessel. Fluid can be pulled from the cells in a pinch to help out and the spleen always stores at least a quarter to a half of a liter to help out as well.
Depending on the severity of the injury, these steps are usually sufficient to get a person through a reasonable period before help arrives.
Then there is the Circle of Willis in your brain. It works in a very similar way to a “beltway” that circles a city. If a person gets a minor occlusion in an artery in their brain, or a transient event, blood may still be able to reach the affected area of the brain via the Circle of Willis. Obviously, there are limits to what is possible, but this interconnecting “superhighway” plays a very important role.
While we’re on the brain, have you heard of the blood brain barrier? If you consult with AI, you’ll learn
“The blood-brain barrier (BBB) functions as a selective filter between the bloodstream and the brain, primarily by using tight junctions between endothelial cells lining the brain’s capillaries to restrict the passage of most substances, allowing only small, lipid-soluble molecules and specific nutrients to cross into the brain while keeping out potentially harmful toxins and pathogens; this is achieved through a combination of physical barriers (tight junctions) and specialized transporter proteins that actively regulate what can enter the brain tissue.”
And then there is the placental barrier . . .
WHAT TO MAKE OF YOUR LIFE?
With such wondrous bodies, how then shall we live? Shall we pollute them? Shall we adorn them with scars, vestiges of times we tried to harm ourselves? I come across many people who are miserable in their lives and feel like a failure because they cannot please other people, whether members of their family, their friends, their supervisor and co-workers at the job, teachers and so on. Yet, there is only One who we need to heed, and that is our Creator. If you’ve had any formal instruction as a Catholic or Protestant, you know that our flesh is corrupt and is at war with our spirit. The author of Hebrews (11:6) tells us as much:
“. . . without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
A belief in God is necessary, but not sufficient. Satan knows that God exists (James 2:19), but he doesn’t seek a bonding relationship with his Creator. In Ephesians 4:22ff, the apostle Paul tells us to put off our old nature and put on the new nature that God provides us. The verbs he uses are the same ones that one would use to designate that they are changing garments. It’s a very simple, almost casual process. You don’t have to think about this. You don’t have to beat yourself on the back or otherwise punish yourself. Jesus took the punishment on the Cross so you would not have to. When you become a Christian, any condemnation just falls off you like soiled garments, if you let it. As Saint Paul tells us in Romans 8:1,2:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
Some, however, cling to their smelly clothes, their guilt and lack of self-worth. Perhaps it is because it is all they know. Perhaps they feel that they have committed the “unpardonable sin?” Perhaps something blocks them from approaching God. These impediments must be uncovered, confronted, and swept away.
There is a reason for why we exist as we do. We have been made in the likeness of God for his companionship (and ours.). He loves us and is incomplete without our love. Ponder that for a second. We have something that God wishes, but rather than force us to love, to worship, to obey Him, he has freed us to decide on our own where we want to be. How will you choose?
AMA.