The Perfect Design

My bloodline is heavily rooted in the medical field. In my maternal grandfather’s branch alone, we have fifteen doctors – three of which are my parents and my sister. Growing up, I had always thought I’d become one as well, but I ended up realizing I didn’t have enough passion for it and opted not to take it up, though I still reserve some interest in it.

There are lots of perks of having doctors in the family, but one in particular that really strikes me is gaining knowledge about how the human body works. I love listening to my parents explain to me how different body parts are supposed to function, how the diseases happen to them, then how the treatment works. With all the things I’ve learned from my parents, I could probably treat dengue without a blood transfusion even with a ridiculously low platelet count.

Anyway,  it’s just amazing how the human body is. There are probably a billion processes that happen inside of us everyday. Have you guys ever taken the time to really see how cool our design is? Even with the most mundane things?

1. It’s so convenient that our nose is situated right above our mouth, so when we scoop up our food, we can smell it before or while we eat.
2. There is an enzyme in our saliva called ptyalin that makes the food soggy so it will be easy for us to swallow it. Can you imagine how difficult it would be to swallow dry food? Eating chips would literally be a pain in the neck.
3. Among millions of sperm cells that swim through a fallopian tube, only ONE will be able to penetrate the egg cell. That one specific sperm cell will determine the DNA structure of the zygote. Should it have been another sperm to make it, the zygote would have completely different characteristics and would grow up to be a completely different person.
4. When we get a scrape or a cut, new skin grows in the same place and makes it well again.
5. One cell alone has 13 different components, which all automatically perform a specific function all the time, 24 hours a day.
6. Our circulatory system can pump blood from the top of our head to the tips of our toes.
7. The EYE. Aside from its intricate design on how it allows us to see, isn’t it amazing how the pupils automatically adjust in size depending on the amount of light available? And how we have rods and cones that make our eyes adjust our vision if there is bright or low light.
8. The human liver can perform more than 300 functions. That’s why it’s super dangerous if it gets damaged. According to medical sources, “the liver supports almost every organ in the body and is necessary for survival. There is currently no way to compensate for the absence of liver function.” (And people ask me why I hardly drink anymore.)
9. The pain that people feel when they’re sick is not the disease itself, but it is the body reacting to the disease – telling you that there is something wrong. A fever, for example, is not the problem, but is a very good warning sign of something bad happening in your system. If we never felt pain, then we would never know if we were sick.
10. There are two openings in our neck area, one for air, and one for food. Save for those occasional times when we accidentally choke, our food ALWAYS automatically goes in the food pathway and never in the respiratory pathway.

These are just ten things I came up with at the top of my head. My family and I discussed a whole list of other facts, but I can’t remember a lot of them anymore.

Writer Paul E. Little noted an observation, “Science can tell us how something works but now why it works in a particular way. Whether there is any purpose in the universe can never be answered by science.” It’s true. Science can only explain the WHAT, the WHEN, the WHERE, and the HOW. Science does not and can not tell us the WHY.

Why does puberty kick in? Why does a pregnant woman start contractions at 9 months? Why does hair grow? Why does the cell’s ribosome make protein for the body? Why do we have to have baby teeth to fall out and make way for our big teeth? Why does breast cancer happen? Why do people get born? Why do people get old? Why do people die?

Because they just do?
Do we really believe that we just happened to become this complex?

I read somewhere before (and I’m trying to remember where) that a scientist or mathematician said that if a blind person were to solve a Rubik’s cube puzzle blindfolded, it would take him about one trillion years to do it (and it would definitely happen by chance too). That is just a human being with a Rubik’s cube of only four colors. How could our entire human anatomy develop randomly and by chance, let alone the whole world and all its complexities? It’s like saying that a tornado can pass through a junk yard and produce a fully functional airplane.

Think about it. There just had to be a designer for all of this.

Besides, isn’t it more awesome to know there is an intelligent Being that created us with the perfect design? We have thumbs to make holding and carry possible. We have two ears for balanced hearing. We have joints in all the right places to make us flexible and versatile for different physical functions. We have toes on our feet to make walking so easy. We females have breasts that conveniently produce milk only when we have a baby. Doesn’t that blow your mind??

It’s not only amazing that we were created and given life, but we were created in a way that was so well thought-out and with so much love. We are perfectly designed because we also have a perfect Designer.

“I will give thanks to You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works, my soul knows it very well.”

Psalm 139: 14

Big Question, Big Answer

If God exists, why do pain and suffering exist?

Everyone has asked this at some point in their lives. I have, and you probably have. It was normal to question these things, but I realized after some time that I never did anything about it back then. There’s no point in questioning if you do not seek answers.

So we go back to the question.
How can an all-powerful and all-loving God allow suffering?

First of all, all this pain and suffering that we see in the world are caused by ourselves. War and disease are the works of men, and they happen even to innocent people. God did not invent pain and suffering. We did.

Second, the bad things happen through our own free will. It’s not something that just happened by chance. They happen to us from our own will, or other humans’ will. It’s a choice that mankind brought on itself. So we retaliate with the question, “Then, why does God allow us to make these choices?  Why doesn’t He stop us?” If God stopped us every time from doing something wrong (i.e. taking away our free will), He would have to do it everyday for all of us 6 billion people. And please, knowing humanity, we would most likely eventually complain about the lack of freedom in the world, even if it was for our own good. We hate our parents for it already, so I’m pretty sure we would still hate God for it.

Third, so we ask, “Okay fine, why didn’t He at least get rid of guys like Hitler or Saddam before they hurt millions of innocent people?” Okay, so should God only get rid of murderers? What about thieves? Should He only get rid of the politicians who steal millions from citizens? Or should he also punish the teenager who steals only a hundred bucks from his dad’s wallet? What about the liars? Really, where exactly do you draw the line on this one? Wrongdoings may have different degrees to us, but if you really look at it, WRONG is WRONG. God could get rid of all evil in the world right now if we wanted to. And if He did, how many of us would be left here? I could easily say, “Well, I haven’t killed anybody.” But I’ve lied, I’ve stolen, I’ve been the lazy leech in group activities in school, I’ve caused hurt to many people in my life. What makes me think I’m not a bad person? By human standards and logic, it might not seem that bad, but who runs the order of the universe? We or God?

We humans, with our finite minds, think that it’s illogical for a loving God to let us, whom He supposedly loves, endure suffering (and also for sending us to hell).. which brings us to the gift that we all fail to see: grace. We may have suffering, but God makes Himself available to help us, and we are sure to find Him if we reach out to Him wholeheartedly (and not with the mentality that says, “Lord, I will believe and have faith if you change stuff in my life.”). Even the most faithful of Christians have lived in pain, and even died in pain. Just as His love is unconditional, our faith should also be unconditional.

Anyway, I don’t know if you guys have noticed, but the world’s problems are getting worse and worse everyday. It kinda reminds me of that story of the apostle Peter who wanted to walk on water with Jesus. Peter was doing just fine walking on the lake, but when he started to doubt, he also started to sink. In a world where Christianity is getting more unpopular and more misrepresented, the Bible story starts to make more sense.

So we may be in a world of suffering and disease – big deal. We’re not staying in this world forever. At least while we’re in it, there’s a way to have the ultimate comfort and the ultimate cure, no matter who we are and no matter how bad we’ve been. Besides, who ever said this was going to be an easy life?

Coz you know where I’ll be found.

Remember this photo I posted some entries ago?

Well, that was the first time I ever played guitar in front of people. I was eleven years old, playing my dad’s acoustic guitar. The song I played was “When I Come Around” by Green Day. I performed that particular one, not only because it had super easy G-D-Em-C chords, but I loved that song ever since I was eight years old.

Anyway, with that in mind, you can pretty much imagine how I felt when I finally got to watch Green Day perform it live.

It was awesome. Two and a half hours of pure Green Day goodness, half of which was old songs. The guys really know how to put up a show. I just really miss their old image. To hell with the skinny jeans and eyeliner, Green Day will always be like this to me.

The old songs on their setlist also included: Burnout, Hitchin’ A Ride, Longview, Brain Stew, Jaded, Longview, Basketcase, She, and King For A Day. Money well spent. Billie Joe, Mike and Tre, thank you for an amazing show.

Where do we go from here?
And what did you do with the directions?
Promise me no dead end streets
And I’ll guarantee we’ll have the road

Bite my lip and close my eyes…

…take me away to paradise.

The eight-year-old in me is screaming with excitement. IT IS SO ON!!!

First Step

I’ve never been outside the country. Though I may have pretty good knowledge about other countries, it’s all based on other people’s travel stories and lots of reading. Anyway, that’s all about to change.

Today, I’m taking my first step out of the Philippines. Destination: Singapore-lah!

When it comes to travel, I’m a lot like my mother. We both share sentiments about one particular thing: if we won the lottery, we’d spend half of it on traveling. I love seeing places for the first time. I still get that sense of awe and wonder when I visit new provinces in Pinas, so it’s going to be cool to be in an entirely different country.

I hope to be able to get around more this year.. but yeah, I think I’m off to a good start.

Know Why You Believe

We all use faith everyday. It is quite impossible to avoid using faith – even setting aside religious faith. We have faith in the doctor, faith in the grocery store, faith in the person who asks us for a date. We even have faith that the train will arrive to take us to work or that the mail carrier will bring our paycheck. The scientist has faith in the scientific method learned from previous scientists, assuming they were honest. Faith then is simply trust; we must exercise at least some measure of faith in order to interact meaningfully with the real world.

Faith is only as valid as the object in which it is placed. Trust an untested food, an unqualified doctor or a dishonest person, and the faith is not valid. A sad example of misplaced faith is the story of a young student who told me that his girlfriend had lnog been dating another man and would soon marry him. Faith may be well intentioned but the object unproven, rendering the faith useless. Meager faith placed in a reliable object, however, will bring results. For instance, if you have weak faith in thick ice, the result is nonetheless positive: the ice holds your weight regardless of your strength of faith.

Testing the reliability of objects of faith is rational and certainly advisable. Wisdom leads us to investigate and know the true facts of any object of our faith. If a clock is wrong, we adjust it. It’s the sensible thing to do.

Know Why You Believe
by Paul E. Little
(an excerpt)

Dear Bill Lawrence

I love Scrubs. Believe me, I really do. I’ve watched the entire series twice (and I’m currently watching it again, now on season 3). I even memorized the lyrics of “Guy Love” and “Everything Comes Down to Poo” from the Scrubs musical from watching it a gazillion times. I love love love that show. My heart broke when the series ended… but my heart totally broke AGAIN when you brought in a new season with totally different cast members! To be perfectly blunt, the new season SUCKS. It SUCKS. Every second of watching it was agony. With what I’m seeing, you pretty much just took Gossip Girl to a med school setting. The new leads have absolutely no personality and no charm. I regret watching the first episode and I won’t even bother to watch the rest. Like Elliot Reid said, “NO POP!!!” If you’re going to continue with the new season, at least give it a new name. It doesn’t deserve to be under the Scrubs banner.

Love,
Ria

Santa sent me some stuff.

You can tell how much a person knows about you by the gifts they give you. I’m guessing my boyfriend knows me puh-retty well. Thanks, love!

New Year Blues

Let’s start off the new year right with the good kind of new year blues. This is a video of Cuarenta on Tambayan sa Outpost (no, this is not a shameless plug) playing their original blues instrumental called “Boris Cat”. Definitely one of my most favorite performances on the show. They start playing at 2:27.

And so..

It’s 2010. Last year’s start was more of a cathartic one, leaving the past and all its crap behind me. This new year’s start is more on excitement on what’s coming my way.

As we all know, 2009 was generally a pretty sucky year, but personally, it had it’s good points. Last year, I was able to fall in love, fix broken friendships, forgive people who hurt me, maintain a balanced lifestyle, work my ass off in an industry I was totally not familiar with, and best of all, quit smoking. I grew up a lot in 2009 and I’m grateful for it.

2010 will be a different story.

I honestly have no idea where I’ll be in the next couple of months, but these are the prime years of my youth and I’m determined the make the most out of it. Plan A and Plan B are in line already. All I have to do is wait and see which one I’ll have to go with. And since I’m unemployed now, I guess it would be a great time to get my life back in order.. and maybe have some fun on the side.

So here we go. Have a good year, loves!