Friday, June 24, 2011

Story behind my last post

Based on the title, you might want to first scroll down to the post entitled Life...

I was inspired to write this from something I wrote for my animal reproduction exam. I was writing about how the sperm fertilises the egg and as I got to the point where the sperm actually fertilises the egg, I almost wrote, "and the two become one."
And I was struck with how so many everyday things (ok, so I'll admit, most people don't know the actual process of sperm maturation and fertilisation, but it happens everyday nonetheless) parallel with spiritual principles. The one of which I am specifically referring to in this case would be marriage (if you hadn't already guessed).
The sperm has to leave the male reproductive tract (where it grows and matures) and swim through the female reproductive tract to find the egg. It doesn't fully reach maturity until completing most of the journey to the egg.

It kind of reminds me of how a man must leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife...and the 2 shall become 1. Sound familiar? And I also believe there's no coincidence in the fact that it's the sperm's job to find the egg, not the other way around.

Of course it's not a perfect analogy, as there usually aren't thousands of men competing for one woman, and most men don't face multiple near-death experiences or have immune cells trying to eat them, but I can say that there are some pretty cool parallels.

One male and one female, who are whole (100%) beings on there own, come together (like in marriage) and accomplish more together than they could apart. And talk about it being good to find a wife? Of the millions of sperm that are ejaculated, the only one who's fate doesn't end in death is the one that successfully fertilises the egg. But the coolest thing in my mind is that this fertilisation process, with so many parallels to marriage, serves the ultimate purpose to make a baby (not saying that all married ppl have to have kids, but its one of the perks). The zygote grows into a baby, and if that sperm happened to deliver a Y chromosome, that baby will eventually grow up to be a man, who will leave his father and mother to cleave to his wife, and the process will once again begin with the sperm maturing and setting out on the adventure to find his 'wife'.

Coincidence? I think not.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Life...

He began as just a cell. Just a little insignificant cell, or so he thought.
He didn't know that he had a purpose, or that many were working on his behalf, protecting him from those who sought to destroy him, acting as a barrier, a shield. He didn't know that others were working to equip him to be able to survive against those who would come after him later with the same intent, his demise.
He didn't know he had been chosen, that he had a purpose. He just knew that he seemed to be stuck going in the same direction as all the others surrounding him, subject to those larger forces around him. But although he didn't know it, all these experiences were maturing him so that he could fulfill his purpose.

Soon came the time for him to leave the place he had been born, the comforts of familiarity.
He entered a new place, a new environment, and that time of a maturity came in handy. In this place, every moment was a new obstacle, a new adventure, another chance to die.
Many with whom he'd grown up with had already fallen, but he and those who remained with him continued on the perilous journey.

He finally makes it to a place on the journey where the environment is not so harsh. He seems to coast for a bit, and he becomes complacent. But then, he encounters a new experience. Something like he's never yet experienced.
In this new environment, some unknown force surrounds him that begins stripping him of the hardness that he had developed over the course of his life.
With this newly acquired clarity, he realises his purpose, and for the first time in his life, he begins to trek his path quickly and determinedly.
Those that surround him race to try and steal his price.
But finally, after a grueling journey, he makes it.
He finds...Her!
She of course is surrounded by fortified defenses, but he hasn't come this far to give up. He breaks through to get to her and when he finally does, he realises that the journey was worth it.
Upon his presence, she becomes his, and all the others are immediately turned away. Then, a beautiful thing happens.

SYNGAMY...the two become one

and form a zygote.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A lesson from my little brother

I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about how people relate within the church with those they don't know. Basically, they were talking about how you need to look for ways to meet new people and start conversations and be relational and stuff. Then someone made the comment, "I think we make this too hard" and my mind immediately jumped to my youngest brother. For the sake of not putting his name on the web, I'm not going to put his name on the web, so we'll just refer to him as my little brother. If you know me, you probably know his name.

Anyhow, we were at the ENT for my younger, his older, brother, and he was playing with standard toys that are usually present at a doctor's office and this other little girl was there as well, so as little children do, they began playing together. At one point he comes up to my mom, and was referring to his new playmate as "the little girl," so my mom says to him, why don't you go ask her what her name is. So he did. I suppose the little girl wasn't to the point of being able to fully communicate because she didn't really give him an answer. She sort of turned to her mom for guidance and then kinda mumbled something as a response. I realise for many of us, in our "sophisticated adult ways" are often hesitant in befriending or relating with those who it may seem "not so easy" to relate with initially. However, the lack of communication on her part, was no discouragement to my youngest brother. Instead of saying, well, "we can't really relate", or "this person seems like there will be effort to getting to know them" as we often say (not necessarily by our words, but our actions), he responded with a very formal (especially for the age of 3), "my name is _(first name)_, _(first name)__(last name)_." I found it very humorous at the time for the sole purpose of his unnecessary and completely unexpected formality, but as I think back on it, there's so much that can be learned from that 3 year old's introduction. Upon introducing himself, they continued playing as if they'd known one another for ages.

Oh if we (especially me) could be more like little children! (Matthew 18:3)