By Kevin Brown |
Bio
At
the end of April this year, my wife and I spent a week in
Nevada. The purpose of our visit was purely one of rest and
relaxation. We spent a few days in Las Vegas and then a few in
Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead, Arizona. Our short vacation included a
few days of golf (for me), some sightseeing, viewing some real
estate properties, a Cirque du Soleil evening show, time by the pool,
lots of dining out, and a last-minute decision to take in ‘
Bodies…
The Exhibition‘ on display at the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. While each of our activities provided the rest and enjoyment we
sought, it was the Bodies exhibition that left me both amazed
and filled with awe.
If you have never had the opportunity to take in one of the several ‘
Bodies… The Exhibition’ displays,
I highly recommend you create the possibility of doing so. It is my
understanding that while each exhibit has different elements, each display features actual human specimens for visitors to
examine in detail. Visitors hopefully gain a first-hand appreciation for the complexity of the human body.
I cannot think of another exhibit that has impacted me the way
this one did. I felt a deep sense of amazement viewing full bodies with the skin removed,
exposing internal organs. the nervous and arterial systems left me in complete awe with their complexity. I was disturbed
viewing the portion of the exhibit that featured fetal development
from 1 week to 12 weeks. Disturbed because I support
the right to choose an abortion and now am left with images of the
fetus at 1, 3, 6, 8 and 12 weeks…all of which were fully recognizable as
human life! Leaving the
exhibit, I was left to consider the complex workings of the human body
as nothing short of a miracle.
Webster’s has several definitions for ‘Miracle’, including
extraordinary events linked to divinity to simply an extremely unusual
event, thing or accomplishment. Other sources seem to invoke
statistical improbability, survival of natural disasters, survival of
terminal illness, and yes, even birth itself. For me, I think of a
miracle as an occurrence for which there is no reasonable
explanation. In my life, I cannot remember a time or event in which
I experienced one. Certainly there have been events which I was
willing to attribute to a miracle (for example, the survival of everyone following the
plane crash on the Hudson River). I, however, have had no
personal experience of a miracle, at least not one I was present to.
Leaving the Bodies Exhibition, I was left to consider "the miracle
within" my own body. When I considered the enormous complexity of all
the internal systems at work and the real-time communication within and
across bodily systems, I could not help but consider the miracle that
occurs in both the design and the operation of our bodies. Whether we
attribute our internal workings to genetics and evolution
or to divine creation, the ‘Miracle Within’ is something
to consider each and every morning when we rise to face another day.
Imagine the possibilities we can generate when each new day begins with a recognition of our own ‘Miracle Within’!
© 2009 Kevin Brown. All rights reserved.
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