It's a miracle
It's a miracle you know. No, not the fact that you are reading my words, although that in itself is pretty special. Think about it. I am in Louisiana and sitting in front of a machine on which I push buttons. Those key presses appear on a screen. When the lines and squiggles are just the way I want them, I push another button and my gibberish is converted into electronic pulses.
The pulses travel over wires and air and instantaneously appear on your screen, in your country, in your home, and on your machine. You stare at the squiggles and know what I thought and felt. If you like what you read, hate what you read, or feel the need to respond to my offering, you push some of your own buttons and soon I will know what you think about what I thought.
Yes that is pretty special and some may consider all of that a miracle, but all of that is man made. The miracle of which I speak is not made of man. Man cannot begin to comprehend the complexities of this miracle.
The miracle is you and me and us. Have you considered what is involved to sense? We do it so effortlessly it seems simple, but how do you see and hear and feel and smell and taste?
Man can make devices that can detect motion and mimic sight, but they are far cries from the human eye. Hard wired to our brains, the eye senses light with amazing sensitivity. It is with our eyes we see the subtle changes in a face and we know if we are loved or if we have amused another. We know what fear and sadness look like.
Think of the beauty you have seen; the rippling muscles on a horse in full gallop, a rainbow rooted in mountain mist, the hypnotic movement of a corn field in tassle, or the sight of your infant child in sleep.
Our eyes treat us to some amazing sights.
What is that you hear? How do your ears work? Can man make such a device? Our ears alert us to danger and translate sound into feelings of poignancy and awe.
Think of the things you have heard; your parents calling you by your pet name, a gentle rain, a whisper in the dark, strains of music that send chills down your spine, the roar of a crowd, a waterfall, the fluttering wings of a butterfly, the sound of your own heart in the pillow.
Do the math. Consider your other senses like taste, touch, and smell. What of the pleasures they bring us?
Then there are our thoughts. Our bodies manipulate chemicals to create electricity, which in turn powers our hearts and fires synapses. Our brains are collections of billions of cells formed in a unique pattern to make you the way you are. We are unique, special, yes - a miracle.
Our thoughts summon our limbs to move. Have you studied the complexeties of movement? Have you ever realized how your muscles, bones, tendons, and joints work in concert to move us.
Walking is spectacular enough, but we can run, dance, jump, and move in ways far beyond our comprehension. If you ask the athlete how he jumps so high, he says, "I just do it." We can all jump and run. We have all danced and walked.
We can know. We can think and ponder the abstract. We can look at ourselves objectively. We can dream things up and make them happen. Our thoughts are amazing. Being able to think is part of the miracle.
Our thoughts are not imprisoned in our minds. We can express the thoughts through language. We can talk, yell, scream, debate, encourage, convince, and cajole. We can write our thoughts. Our words can be expressed in ways to communicate with folks in other countries through translations.
It is all a miracle. What we sense, that we think and communicate, and that we even live. Our bodies are machines fueled by plants and animals. Blood flows through our veins, organs perform various tasks, and we move through life in a rhythm. We sleep, we wake, we work, we play, we laugh, we love, we cry, and we grow.
Life is a miracle and we are alive. We are special, and unique, we are wonderfully made. What a gift and we receive it freely and without obligation.
Take time to consider and savor your gift; your miracle.
Until the next time
John Strain