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Alive & KickingSurrounded by Miracles |
The dictionary defines a miracle as something marvelous; a wonder.
A Small Miracle
When I see a newborn baby I think about the critical developmental sequence which must be followed. I consider, as well, the level of the infant’s chemical organization. Then, I simply marvel that a complete, healthy child is born.
From one whole young cell with a complete set of genetic instructions, the cell begins to divide, to form primary tissues.
The three primary tissues fold, elongate, cluster to form organs, tubes, tube linings, eyes, brain and spinal structures, liver, kidneys, ducts, reproductive tissues, digestive tubing, limbs and digits, etc. If you have studied human anatomy, you know that with few minor structural variations, we all are similar in physical detail. To the satisfaction of our medical doctors, our physiology is quite predictable as well.
A healthy baby seems so fresh, so new. In fact, the child is new. Its living nature is abundantly clear and its tissue health and function is at a lifetime high point at birth.
Life is unique in that it struggles to maintain its profound chemical organization. But over time, like all natural systems, order gives way to disorder (entropy). Looking at my hands I see the skin is wrinkled, blotchy, rough, showing perhaps a bit too much wear and tear. In old age, even the process of cell division becomes abnormal, which in the young was so typically abundant and healthy.
I will never lose my profound respect for the miracle of life. From whales to butterflies—life is wonderful.
A Large Miracle
I think all of us have been intrigued by recent findings in space: the vastness of it, the beautiful pictures of nebulae, the recent discovery of planets confirmed to exist outside our solar system, the rushing of matter at great speed into “empty space”. That the universe is expanding was indicated in the 1930’s by E. Hubble’s discovery of the red shift of sound. Using the shift of the red light frequency radiated from a star, scientists can tell the speed at which a star is traveling away or toward us.
In our expanding universe, vast numbers of suns appear to be traveling away from us. Those stars traveling fastest appear to be farther away.
Man has been clever to learn so much about the heavens, knowing that we have never been beyond our moon. Nonetheless, we have learned much from the light from other suns and the signals sent back by our space probes.
Much of the light we study is old light: it was emitted thousands of years ago and has been traveling at about 186,000 miles per second for many millennia—that’s a lot of seconds and a lot of distance!
Through the ages, dedicated people with ever-better telescopes and methods have searched the skies and helped us gain some understanding of celestial structures and events. Stars are forming, solar systems coalescing, giant dust clouds exist, black holes (areas that emit no light) have been found—and the discoveries continue.
The September 2008 issue of Scientific American had a fine section on black holes. They are areas of the universe that have such great gravitational attraction that they continually collect matter and light traveling through space. It is postulated that material entering black holes is shredded, atom from atom. Indeed, even the atoms are thought to be torn apart into subatomic particles.
So here we are within the Milky Way, riding Earth, which is rotating at a speed of 1,000 miles per hour and racing around the sun every 365 days or so.
We’re a very small speck in it all.
I think our universe qualifies as one of the greatest miracles, a majestic miracle! I know that man will continue to probe and learn, and this is right. There will always be more questions than answers.
Why is it, however, when humans discover the previously hidden secrets of the universe, we seem to assume ownership, or a sense of mastery? Why is it that what we come to understand and manipulate soon becomes commonplace?
Will life itself and our stunning universe also become hohum— like DNA in a jar?
Must we lose the awe we experience at a spectacular sunset, or the wonder we feel when we see a seedling struggling to grow in an inhospitable place, or our appreciation for life itself—simply because we understand some part of it? The gift of Christmas should never become commonplace.
It is the nature of the Creator Himself to fashion great miracles. This is a time of wonder!
I wish for you and your family a blessed Christmas. Psalm 19
Guest columnist John Cooke taught high school biology for 30 years and is pleased to share his insights on the world—and on the human experience—with our readers.