This was a facebook post on February 22, by Doug Jackson, a former professor at Stark College and Seminary. He is currently serving as a hospital chaplain in Burleson, TX. Enjoy!
In case your life feels out of control today, good news: It was never under (your) control . .or out of God's.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. - Psalm 139.14
“I am, to face the facts squarely, considerably less intelligent than my liver.” - Lewis Thomas, The Lives of a Cell
Immunologist Lewis Thomas once said, “If you were put in charge of your liver, you’d be dead in a day.” Consider, for just a moment, this biological marvel. The largest internal organ in your body, your liver performs hundreds of functions daily. It fights infection. It churns out proteins and hormones. It scrubs your blood. It can regenerate itself like a lizard’s tail: Chop out over half of it and you’re back up and running at full capacity in half a month. Oh, and it keeps your brain in working order.
And it does all this without your knowing how it does it, or that it does it at all, or that it’s even there.
The psalmist may or may not have known he had a liver. It’s a safe bet he had far less information than we do about what that three-pound lump of reddish-brown flesh got up to, perched there just north of the gall bladder. But the sacred poet knew enough to know how much he didn’t know: I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. It is a delusion to think that we are in charge of our own destinies; we aren’t even in charge of our own intestines.
As we go through this day, may our livers be a metaphor for our lives: so vital and so complex that only God could create them; so vital and so complex that only God can control them.
Prayer: God who formed us from the dust of the earth, thank You that we are not in charge of our own livers. . .or our own lives. Cause us to live this day in thanks to You for Your provision, and in trust of Your guidance. Amen.
Dr. Jackson gave permission to use this post to “traumatize the faithful.”