Saturday, August 2, 2008

THE HUMAN BODY...

While reading the Relief Society message in the Ensign this month "All Human beings are created in the image of God". I had some thoughts about the human body and how we take it for granted. I have been grateful for my health and strength most of my life but never quite like immediately following an illness or a few days of pain in one part of the body or another. Even when studying the human body in college I didn't appreciate many of the things I have recently learned about our magnificient bodies. I'm convinced that we so take for granted the many functions of each part of system of our bodies...so for this newsletter I'm going to remind all of us of how grateful we should be for what is working in so many wonderful ways for us.

Did you know that through your nose and into your lungs you take in oxygen for use in your body as you breathe approximately every three seconds? That calculates into 20 times every minute, then 1200 times every hour, then 28,800 times every day. Unbelieveable!!

Did you that that as your heart pumps to send the life giving blood out to every part of your body that it pumps at least every second? That is if it is only beating 60 times every minute (it is normal for it to beat around 72 times). In an hour that would be 3600 times and in one day it would be 86,400 times. Amazing!!

When you consider those two things alone one would wonder how any of us live to be more than 10 years old.

Now consider the brain...It is far better than any computer. It calculates so many things for us even as it stores far more information than we ever use.

How about our eyes? They are far better than any camera. You can't even pump a shutter fast enough to record all the many details around as we are able to see with our eyes.

How about our ears? They hear and compute words, music and many sounds to identify information vital to our well being. We are able to communicate with others which is almost impossible without that ability to hear.

How about our mouths? We are able to form words and communicate with others as we hear and then with our voice send messages of our thoughts. Some of the most beautiful music comes from a trained singing voice through the mouth. Also, some of the most enjoyable times during each day are when we are dining and tasting those wonderful varieties of food that we are a party to in our daily experience. Especially at this time in the summer when we have so many fresh fruits and vegetables for the tasting. What a satisfying experience to be able to savor the eating of food. How about the entire digestive system? It is so complex and yet so simple as it provides fuel for the body through our mouths.

How about our nose? It allows us to smell the aroma of everything. We can take time to smell the roses. We can identify things around us by the smell. Then if there is an irritant in our nose or throat, we sneeze. A sneeze starts in the diaphragm and muscles in the ribs and vocal cords. They help produce the power to expel air all in the span of 2-3 seconds and produce an airstream of 100-150 miles per hour to rid us of the problem.
Remarkable!!

How about our hands? They are the most marvelous tools. We can touch or grasp things to perform a million tasks. It would be near impossible for us to accomplish any type of work or play without our hands.

How about our feet? They allow us to be ambulatory. We can move around freely because of them. Did you know that your feet have 52 of the 204 bones in the body? They are each a most complex instrument that functions to help us move easily and freely about our environment.

The most amazing thing of all is that if we cut, scrape, or break any of the parts of our body, it has the power to heal itself with time and exercize. Yes, the body is the only machine that improves with use. The human body can also compensate for the diminishing power or the loss of a part. A most amazing example of this is my brother's grandson, Porter Ellett. Porter lost his right arm in an accident when he was 4 years old. Over the years he has worked hard at being able to do whatever anyone else does with two arms and hands. He is in no way handicapped as he does everything any other 19 year old would. He has been an outstanding athlete at school playing track, basketball and baseball on state championship teams in Utah. He is at present preparing to leave on his mission to a Los Angeles area mission and I'm sure he will be successful at it. He will be successful at whatever else he determines to do because he uses his wonderful attitude and every other part of his body to make up the total whole in body and spirit.

How long did your last man made machine keep working? How long can you keep a car working efficiently or a lawn mower, a vacuum cleaner, a computer or any other man made machine? Our human bodies point to a divine creator. Even with all of the amazing man made inventions there are none to compare with what Heavenly Father has created for our use. Each of us is unique and marvelously created to fulfill our divine mission on this earth. How grateful we should be for the great blessing of having a body even with all of the imperfections we perceive.

This month because of the considerations above, I pray that each of us will prepare ourselves to care for our bodies, to appreciate them, and to be grateful for the blessing of being here in them at this time. With love, Maurine Winters