Thank you
Lu Su
Toy Wonders, Inc.
www.toywonders.com
201-229-1700
God and the Art of Toy and Diecast Marketing
God's Radical Ways in Preserving Man (part 3)
By Lu Su
Because we are on the subject of preserving man, I thought it would be fitting to head into NYC and check out The Bodies Exhibition, where they have preserved bodies of display.
http://www.bodiestheexhibition.com/about-the-exhibition.html
This exhibition is playing in a few major cities throughout the US. Here you can find human bodies that have been preserved by some process where the water in the tissue and organs have been replaced by a type of polymer. Then end result is that the bones, muscles, organs, tendons, skin, and other stuff that is in a human body is preserved, sliced open, and now available for your viewing pleasure. ...Presenting the new 21st century mummification process without the cloth.
I believe most of us(marketers of product) have never gotten the opportunity to see in great detail the inside of a human body. At this exhibit, I came to the realization that so many things have to go right (all at the same time) in order for you to just be able to extend your arm out. Multiple systems in your body must work together to allow your brain to send out signals that allow tendon, muscle, to allow a bone to move forward. And then a different signal to allow a totally different set of muscles and tendons to move it back.
I know that some people are amazed at all the engineering that goes behind some automobiles. This a good thing, because it helps with diecast model car sales. However, even with man's ingenuity and all the technology we've put into automobiles ("Corinthian leather", "cab forward design" and "eco-boost"), the engineering that goes into an automobile today doesn't even scratch the surface when it comes to complexity in design and engineering of the human body (e.g. ability to grow physically and cognitively, ability to repair itself, problem solving, able to fuel itself, able to accept multiple forms of fuel). From the little I know about the human body, I already see a deep philosophical conundrum on purpose (meaning).
All deep philosophical questions fall into four categories: origin, meaning, morality and destiny. If you do not believe in God (or gods), most likely you (The Freudian ID) will become extinct when your physical body or mind fails. If you believe that, then physical death brings final extinction to you. With this type of world view, I dare say that most will come to the conclusion that life has no overarching meaning or long term purpose. Whether your live your life as a Mother Theresa or a Jeffrey Dahmer, it makes no difference in the end (for that individual). When I look at the engineering behind the human body, I think it is totally unreasonable to conclude that life has no overarching meaning or purpose. The engineering and the specificity of design that goes into an automobile has meaning and purpose; But the engineering and the specificity of design that goes into the human body, which vastly exceeds the complexity of design of any automobile (even the Batmobile), has no meaning and purpose? Let me just throw something out to allow you to chew on it this week. Is it possible that both automobiles and the human body, in its complexity and design, was specifically created for a purpose? Could that very purpose be to serve? Serve? If your are not talking about tennis, then serving needs a recipient.
On exhibition at the Bodies Exhibition were all the organs we need for life. I know even with our current understanding and technology, we still haven't been able to engineer a better replacement heart, kidney, brain or lung. Forget about those complex organs, how about just a simple part for the organ? When my father-in-law went under the knife to replace his heart valve, they didn't use something synthetic that man made or designed; They use a pig's heart valve. Now my father-in-law jokes that he is part swine.
For me, I just don't see how it is possible that so many complex organs, muscles, tendons, ligaments can slowly evolve. For our bodies to work, we need all these complex organs to come into existence and properly work all at the same time. So the human lungs wasn't given the privilege to slowly evolved and then a few million years later the heart, liver or brain got its turn. All the organs and systems in the body coming on line at once. This is already mind boggling to me, but now add two very different sexes with very different reproductive organs. Both sexes "evolved" at the same time? What is the chances of that happening? I would argue that we are far more likely to find a diecast model car on some distant untouched planet than even a single protein molecule on that same planet. But what do I know. I'm just a toy salesman. Let's look at someone who is more qualified on this field of study called life.
Francis Crick, molecular biologist, biophysicist, neuroscientist, Nobel Prize winner, and co-discover of the DNA double helix, had a very good understanding of the complexity of DNA. He spent his life studying the above subjects. As most of us now know, DNA is something essential for life. The DNA molecule also happens to be the most efficient information storage system found in the universe, that we have discovered so far. The immensity of complex, coded and precisely sequenced information written on the DNA is absolutely staggering. The existence of DNA is already evidence of intelligent, information-bearing design. But when you start seeing a design in something, that then question of "Who is the designer?" usually crops up. Crick understood the complexity and knew that the the human body could NOT have just evolved unassisted on its own.
Crick himself was quoted as saying, ‘An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going.’
But because Crick was not a theist (a person that believes in God or gods), he could not attribute this "miracle" to God. Because he understood the complexity of what needs to happen for life, I believe Crick provides the next best explanation on how life came to existence on Earth. I'm not sure if Crick came up with this theory called panspermia or if he just assisted in propagating it. But the word panspermia comes from the Greek words pan (all) and sperma (seed), meaning that the seeds of life are all through the universe.
In Crick's book called Life Itself, some form of primordial life was shipped to the earth billions of years ago in spaceships by (more evolved) alien beings. With this theory, Crick was able to immediately circumvent the huge hurdles of evolution of life from non-naturally appearing chemicals and then take a bye on the question of a designer. Because with this panspermia theory, the question of whether an intelligent designer was involved, is now in another galaxy.
I'm not trying to make a joke here. I understand Crick's situation and predicament. He honestly believed that there was no God. He also honestly believe that the the spontaneous formation of DNA was nil. So given those two assumptions, this theory that space aliens brought life to Earth is the next best logical conclusion.
So which easier to believe? That God is the author of life or aliens brought life to Earth? Is this alien theory a better and more logical theory than believing that God created all life? Is it more scientific to believe in aliens than God?
After my better half and I finished the Bodies Exhibit, we departed the sea port and hoofed it down to the former Twin Towers site to see how the construction of the Freedom Tower was going.
This is what the Freedom Tower looked like on January 2, 2012. I get amused when my father-in-law and the subject of tall buildings enter the conversation. Actually, it's not much of a conversation, but its a combination of curse words and expressions of outrage. You see he was a former NYC Fire Fighter and Captain. He says when the building get that high, there isn't all that much fire fighters can do to put out the blaze or help people in distress. Hoses and ladders just don't reach that high. And running up the stairs in full fire gear is not for the faint of heart. This picture reminded me of another New York City icon taken about 50 years ago.
Here is the brave fire fighter with the Verrazanno Bridge in the background. Notice at this time in 1963, driving across would have been a little problematic. When it was completed in 1964, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.
It's probably because of my odd nature; But when I see great man made structures going up, I'm more reminded of the man's brevity of life than man's great accomplishments. From the quick 50 years time it took to go from this picture (1963) to the former picture (2012), most of readers reading this article now will not be able to survive the same time period in our current bodies.
A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. -Isaiah 40:6
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. -James 4:14
We then strolled down Wall Street. When you walk down this street, you'll encounter Federal Hall (across the street from the stock market exchange); This is where the first United States Congress met and where George Washington was inaugurated President in 1789. Notice that I'm secretively and without your knowledge slowly moving you back through time.
When you walk westward on Wall Street you will eventually hit Trinity Church, which was first constructed in 1698. Now if you were to walk into this church, you would noticed on the front doors (facing East) some elaborate sculptures in bronze. In many old churches you will see stain glass windows depicting biblical stories. In most of the centuries, much of the population was unable to read. So a picture can be worth a thousand words. What is kind of neat is that man has recently developed this new 3-D type of TV. This 3-D artwork found on the doors of Trinity Church was created long ago -and you don't even need to wear 3-D glasses.
If I recall, last time we were on the subject of eagles wings, something called a cherubim guarding the East entrance to the garden, God, Adam, Eve, clothing from the skin of an animal, and getting the boot for the Garden of Eden. I thought this artist, who had no access to cameras, did an excellent job in capturing that story here. For most of the major religions of the world, this is the event and location on where the first human bodies appeared on Earth. And for many of these major religions, this is where this concept of sin entered the world.
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— Romans: 5:12
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam (Christ), a life-giving spirit. -1 Corinthians 15:45
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. -1 Corinthians 15:22
Next time I like to look at Radical Way this Christ have made some of us alive.
