Dear Journal,
I am both excited and awed by the book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made by Philip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand - and I've only read one chapter and the preface!
First off, I was intensely excited by the "boyish enthusiasm for the grandeur of the human body" Dr. Brand conveys (Brand & Yancey, p.15). His heart mirrors my own in that way. From the moment I began reading my high school Anatomy and Physiology textbook, (ironically with the same title) I fell in love with the intricacy, efficacy, and beauty of God's divine knitting project. (Psalm 139:13)
In the same breath, I am also awed by how much I (and the medical community) have yet to discover. Even with medicine's extensive knowledge of human anatomy, we continue to be baffled by questions of science. Even with the ultimate model of "How to Make a Human" standing right before our eyes - or under our scalpels - we are still incapable of creating a human and giving it life!
In the chapter on balance, I was struck by the example of a baby learning to walk. Though she may tilt her head to look at a toy on the ground, this change in the visual image being sent to her brain, does not cause her to think she is falling. Unless, of course, you are falling, in which case an intricate system of nerve pathways, muscles, and fluid in the ears, would inform you of this and (perhaps before you are consciously aware) a reflex would cause your limbs to take action to prevent or soften your fall. How can someone have knowledge of such feats and not glorify God? I think John Calvin says it very well:
To investigate the motions of the heavenly bodies, to determine their positions...and ascertain their properties, demands skill, and a more careful examination; and where these are so employed, as the providence of God is thereby more fully unfolded, so it is reasonable to suppose that the mind...obtains brighter views of his glory...The same is true in regard to the structure of the human frame. To determine the connection of its parts, its symmetry and beauty, with the skill of Galen, requires singular acuteness; and yet all men acknowledge that the human body bears on its face such proofs of ingenious contrivance as are sufficient to proclaim the admirable wisdom of its Maker. (Institutes, 1.5.1)I think Fearfully and Wonderfully Made will continue to be a very good book, because the authors' use these pictures of the human body to also communicate spiritual truth. Listen to this quote from the book:
Similarly, Christ's body shows its health best by acting in love toward other human beings. When it cuts back on active response to pain and injustice, it begins to waste away and weaken. (Brand & Yancey, p.184)How true this statement is - and what hope lies in the knowledge that Christ made the church a body! I often despair of ever finding a church home since my experience with churches have been so fragmented and occasionally painful. But a body paints a more hopeful picture! For instance, my own inadequacy at being evangelism-minded could be countered by a compassionate brother or sister in Christ gifted in acting as the mouth and feet of the body. While they, perhaps lacking organization or efficiency, could be aided by my analytical gifts as if I were Broca's area of the brain.1
We all fit into different systems in the body of Christ, and when all the systems function together as they should, the result is a healthy, functioning body. For me, the struggle often isn't failing to use my gifts, but claiming I don't need others' help to accomplish what I deem necessary. However, reading this book brought to mind the words of Paul:
The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."...But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." 1 Corinthians 12:20, 24-26I am so glad that Dr. Hartman made this a reading assignment.
(To read part 2, click here)
________________________
1 Broca's area coordinates
the complex muscle movements associated with forming words and producing speech.
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works.” The focus of Psalm 139 is “you,” Yahweh, who is omniscient (vv. 1-6), omnipresent (vv. 7-13), and infinite (vv. 14-18). Since we are none of these things, the greatness of God frequently leads us to bewilderment and even confusion; but God is big enough to withstand our resulting fits of outrage, even calming us down to the point where we regain a proper view of reality (vv. 19-24).
ReplyDeleteThe main idea here is that God does all things fearfully and wonderfully, and, therefore, we are led to praise him. Why? It is this acknowledgment about God, consummated in our boasting and bragging about him, that, among other facts rehearsed in the Psalm, impels us to go down the path on the way of everlasting life on which he leads us.
In sum, it is God that we seek, both to know him and so to be like him, to be what he made us to be, souls—the inextricable combination of material and immaterial, inner and outer, made in his image—restored from the deadly consequences of the fall, having been reconciled through the redemption in Christ Jesus by the resurrection from the dead! Yes, “wonderful are your works,” reflections of omniscience, omnipresence, and infinity, reflections focused into a beam of light leading us down the path to know, to apprehend, and, feebly at first, and ever more strongly, reflect back to him the image of him whom to know is life eternal. By faith, and in hope of the resurrection, then, I will boast and brag on him forevermore!