03/22/13

I realize I have been MIA yet again.

It's my Kindle... that is the problem.  :)

You see, I have found all kinds of books on there that have broadened my horizons that I don't think I would have found if not for the "cheap e-book" sections.  They have led me to more and more books that have spiritually strengthened me along with my Scripture reading and devotions.

One I just recently finished is Where is God When it Hurts?  by Phillip Yancey.

This book has been phenomenal. 

I am not as good in Science as, say, my brother.  However, the older I get the more I enjoy learning about how things work.  This book begins with how our body works and how pain is an important part of our lives... whether we care to admit this or not.  (Just ask someone who deals with diabetes and the deadening of nerves to realize that pain actually helps protect us and gives us warning signals.)

Our bodies are DESIGNED by our Creator.  He, in His wisdom, designed our bodies so intricately that there is no way we happened by "chance."  

Here are a few facts that I learned from the book and wanted to share.  I was amazed at the differences in touch with our skin.  It was something I *knew* because we feel things everyday, but I didn't understand it in this detail! 

These facts deal with what researches have discovered in measuring the touching of something to skin.  It is measured in grams (per square millimeter of skin surface).  All that is in green came from Where is God When it Hurts? by Phillip Yancey pages 26-27.

Sensitivity:
"Tip of tongue - 2 grams of pressure

Fingers - 3 grams of pressure

Back of hand - 12 grams of pressure

Back of forearm - 33 grams of pressure

Sole of foot - 250 grams of pressure

Thus, the skin, a single organ displays a very wide range of sensitivity to pressure.  We use our tongues for such intricate acts as forming words and picking food particles from between our teeth.  We use our fingers for playing the guitar, writing with a felt-tip pen, and the caresses of love.  These areas of the skin require a fine-tuned sensitivity.

But less critical areas hardly need such sensitivity: we would tire very quickly indeed if our brains had to listen to such dainty pressure reports from the foot, which faces a daily rigor of stomping, squeezing, and supporting weight.  Thus, while fingers and tongue can detect a feather touch, other parts of the body need a good sound slap before they report unusual activity to the brain."

I could literally go on and on.... and on.  This book has enlightened me in so many ways to the miraculous makeup of our bodies.  There are details we take for granted every day, but we miss them or really feel them terribly when something goes wrong.

I will continue to relate this to how pain is good in future posts.  I hope you will stay with me through this.  I have been learning much.