The fact that man exists is a miracle.
As physicians we do not know how two cells unite to form an embryo or how those
cells differentiate and divide, some to become eyes that see, some to become
ears that hear, and some to become fingers that feel the beautiful things around
us. As scientists we can study this process, describe it, and even manipulate
it within the laws that God has provided. We are incapable of complete understanding,
but our observations cause us to have faith in the process and in Him as the
provider of the process.
As a youth, I remember wanting a fine
camera. I wanted one that had a light meter and, hopefully, an automatic
focusing device. Then one day I stood before a mirror and flashed a light into
my own eye, and recognized the change in my eye as I withdrew the beam of light.
Suddenly I realized that I already had two cameras finer than man could make. I
had instant focus and instant accommodation to light and to darkness; not only
that, but stereoscopic vision as well, for my two “cameras” were able to transmit
images to the brain not be fused into one three-dimensional picture.
The miracle of hearing leaves me in
awe. First, wound waves strike the eardrums, making them vibrate so slightly. Then
that motion is amplified by three tiny ossicles, which transmit that energy to
the auditory nerve, which in turn sends an electrical signal to the brain. This
amazing mechanism is the model on which all electronic recording and sound
amplification systems are based. Our Divine Creator knew all about these
processes long before man “discovered” them.
The heart has four little valves that
open and close more than 100,000 times a day, over 36 million times a year.
There is no material yet devised by man capable of flexion that many times
without ultimate fatigue and fracture. The best artificial heart valve
available to us now is that taken from the lowly pig. Man has learned to
harvest that pig valve, prepare it, mount it on a strut, and then implant it to
serve as a human valve would. To date, it is better than any of the valves man
has made from steel and plastic, although we don’t know yet how durable it may
be.
The amount of work done by the heart
is most amazing. Each day it pumps enough fluid to fill a 2,000-gallon tank car
and performs work equivalent to lifting a 150-pound man to the top of the Empire
State Building, which consuming about 4 watts, less energy than is used by the
smallest light bulb in our home.
At the crest of the heart is a little electrical
transmitter, the sinoatrial node, which sends its signal over the network of
special conduction tissue throughout the heart to organize the heartbeat and
synchronize it in response to the extra demands of exercise and the lessened
demands at rest.
As I go to meetings of the American Heart
Association, I see thousands of doctors attending myriads of special scientific
sessions, all probing deeply to learn more about this simple pump. It seems all
the more we learn, the more we have yet to learn.
Even more amazing is the phenomenon of
the human mind. The electrical signals emitted from the mind can be recorded by
electroencephalographic means, and some researchers have even induced recall of
memory by stimulating specific areas of the brain electrically. Nevertheless, physicians
do not know how the mind is able to store and retrieve information. The
mechanism of the brain is marvelous, and the possession of the mind a sacred responsibility.
To see and hear is also a sacred privilege, and the contamination of the memory
storage bank by anything unworthy of its divine origin and its infinite capability
is sacrilege. As I marvel at the minds of the prophets, I know it is possible
for the human mind to receive inspiration and revelation and to provide prophetic
and inspired pronouncements. The aging process itself does not dull the mind,
but indeed enriches it if one has continually filled the mind with worthy and
worthwhile things.
The power of the body to autoregulate
has fascinated me. Most of us have a blood sugar level between 80 and 100
milligrams per 100 milliliters when fasting. This is all regulated without our
having to do a thing about it. Countless other constituents of the blood are similarly
regulated without any thought of outs. One gains a greater appreciation of this
when one considers the hospital use of a blood gas analyzer. It is a rather
sizeable instrument, about half the size of an upright piano. How excited we
were when we could put a specimen of blood in this analyzer and learn, without
five minutes, what the concentrations of oxygen and carbon dioxide were. This
was a great boon in our treatment of patients who required artificial respiration.
Yet, in our bodies are two little clusters of cells, situated on each side of
the neck that continuously analyze oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the
blood. This information is then transmitted by nerves to the brain, which in
turn governs the muscles of respiration. It is this mechanism that only permits
us to stay so long under water without an overpowering drive to come to the
surface for air. That is because as the carbon dioxide accumulates and the
blood pH begins to go down, these sensing centers are sending signals to the
brain that the pressure of oxygen is low, and that the level of carbon dioxide
is high. A few good breaths of fresh air will correct these abnormalities.
These sending centers are ours as a gift from our Creator. (Russell M. Nelson, From
Heart to Heart: An Autobiography [Salt Lake City: Quality Press, Inc.,
1979], 287-88, 290)
