The Greatest Gift

For Christmas, let me offer you my best wishes and prayers along with this blog about an awesome gift you already have received. I’m talking about your life, specifically your body.

My fascination with biology and the human body led me into medicine. During my early years learning how to perform physical examinations, I was thrilled the first time I saw with my own eyes the retina with the optic nerve and all the blood vessels in the back of the eye. When I first used my old-school head mirror and light to visualize the vocal cords, I was amazed to see the two glistening white vocal cords vibrate together as the patient said “eeee.” These experiences felt sacred.

Everything I’ve learned about the body since that time has only reinforced with me its magnificence. 

There are two excellent and readable books that remind us in powerful and entertaining ways of the great gift we have received. The first is The Body, A Guide for Occupants, by Bill Bryson. The second is The Language of God by Francis Collins.

You may have heard of Bill Bryson and his famous books, A Walk in the Woods and A short History of Nearly Everything. In his 2019 work, The Body, he brilliantly weaves amazing and startling facts into a gorgeous tapestry that highlights just how amazing and complex our bodies are. In Chapter 1 he says: 

The body is often likened to a machine, but it is so much more than that. It works 24 hours a day for decades without (for the most part) needing regular servicing or the installation of spare parts, runs on water and a few organic compounds, is soft and rather lovely, is accommodatingly mobile and pliant, reproduces itself with enthusiasm, makes jokes, feels affection, appreciates a red sunset and a cooling breeze. How many machines do you know that can do any of that? There is no question about it. You are truly a wonder.

Bryson somehow blends together tiny details, bizarre stories, puzzling mysteries, and broad perspective as he talks about our skin, microbes, brain, eating, breathing,  sex lives, pain, and so on—along with insights about our 3 billion years of evolution. In the final chapter, fittingly titled The End, he talks about aging—including all we don’t know about it.

The author’s many facts and stories dramatically show the advantages of a healthy lifestyle. He also includes sometimes unspeakable details about what happens when things go wrong in our bodies and about the early treatments that were tried, like the 1810 mastectomy for breast cancer performed on Fanny Burney in her home without anesthesia. 

Bryson does not talk directly about God and faith. But his book reinforced my view that the body is a work of a divine creator.

In 2006 Francis Collins, director of the NIH for 12 years until this month and head of the landmark Human Genome Project, wrote The Language of God, A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. Collins, a practicing Christian, persuasively makes the case for God and for science and describes theistic evolution. He writes:

Will we turn our backs on science because it is perceived as a threat to God, abandoning all the promise of advancing our understanding of nature and applying that to the alleviation of suffering and the betterment of humankind? Alternatively, will we turn our backs on faith, concluding that science has rendered the spiritual life no longer necessary, and that traditional religious symbols can now be replaced by engravings of the double helix on our alters?

Both of these choices are profoundly dangerous. Both deny truth. Both will diminish the nobility of humankind. Both will be devastating to our future. And both are unnecessary. The God of the Bible is also the God of the genome. He can be worshipped in the cathedral or in the laboratory. His creation is majestic, awesome, intricate and beautiful - and it cannot be at war with itself. Only we imperfect humans can start such battles. And only we can end them.” 

The Language of God might be an especially appropriate reading for these challenging times when we are struggling to agree on the truth about Covid. 

The Body by Bill Bryson | The Language of God by Francis S. Collins | A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson | A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

Note: I do not collect a commission if you purchase any of these books. I’m posting the links simply for your convenience.

SUGGESTIONS:

1. Consider The Body and The Language of God. I especially recommend The Body as a great Christmas gift for the curious on your list. 

2.  Take a few slow breaths now and often during these busy weeks. Reflect on a few things you are grateful for, including your health. 

3. Practice listening. Celebrate all the growth opportunities you may encounter by spending time with family and friends who have different views than years. I talked about some of these challenges in my last blog, Passing Judgment, so consider reading this if you haven't seen it.

I wish you every joy of this holy season. God bless you.

P.S. Don’t forget to sign up for my monthly blog or follow me on Facebook or Donna Chacko on Twitter. If my message helps you in any way, please consider sharing it with others. 

Dr. Donna Chacko promotes health of body, mind, and spirit through her website (serenityandhealth.com), her blog, and programs at her church. She is the author of the award-winning book and Amazon best-seller Pilgrimage: A Doctor’s Healing Journey (Luminare Press, 2021). You can read her full bio here.

Additional Reading