Standing in the human gross anatomy lab on the first day alongside my classmates, I couldn’t help but feel terrified. We heard the stories about long nights of studying and hours spent in the lab. It was now our turn to start this journey and the excitement was mixed with a huge sense of panic.
That day, our wonderful resident campus minister, Emily Muntean, performed the blessing ceremony to center us before it all began. Her words stood out to remind each of us of the true blessings we have been given.
The sacrifice that these persons gave by donating their bodies to help us learn and the opportunity to be taught by some of the most intelligent professors is in itself a huge blessing.
One blessing that they don’t advertise is gaining an appreciation for God’s master design.
And let me tell you, if there is one place to go to find God, it’s in his extraordinary creations.
Even within the first few weeks, I stood beside my peers and was honestly in awe as we held the human heart in our hands.
The heart is something so miniscule to our everyday thought, but it has the strength and ability to beat more than 2.5 billion times in one lifetime. It is a humbling and inspiring experience.
To see the intricate networking of arteries, veins and nerves is one of the most beautiful designs you could ever imagine.
The most amazing thing is that God created this in all of his glory.
The jumbling of muscle and tissue is able to come to life and not just live, but become a person capable of emotion, hopes and dreams.
Austrian-British philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein stated that “the human body is the best picture of the human soul.”
His words ring true if you peer into what at first looks like a mess.
We’re just messy people with a lot going on, but in the end, it all works out for the better.
Just like the ability of multiple vessels to forge their way through the diaphragm in order to reach separate parts of the body, it might not make sense, but it just works.
The combination of science and faith can be a touchy subject at times.
Some say they contradict each other, but for me, I can definitely see how I need one to truly appreciate the other.
I may understand how one artery branches, but at the same time, I can appreciate why it was designed in this way.
Yes, it’s complicated and yes it’s messy, but oh boy, is it a beauty.
I have found God in so many moments in my life, whether I was in the middle of running or halfway through a church service, but this is something completely different for me.
It’s nothing loud or breathtaking, but for those of us who were leaning over the thoracic cavity, staring at the branching of an artery, it took our breath away.
I was able to truly find and appreciate God’s glory standing in scrubs, covered in bodily juices, while holding the left long thoracic nerve in my gloved hand.
RACHEL NYE
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