Body Worlds

If you live in the Dallas area, you've no doubt seen and heard the commercials for the Body Worlds exhibit on display now at the Museum of Nature and Science.

It's Gunther Von Hagen's plastination display, which he says, "unveils the beauty beneath the skin, frozen in time between death and decay." Real human bodies, preserved for eternity, who now stand at the crossroads between art and science.

It's a fascinating exhibit. Angela and I spent two hours walking through it on Tuesday, and it was a maze of wonder, education, and plain ole spiritual awe. There are times when Christians get upset about anything that even remotely deals with science, and I've never understood that. Don't they realize that God is the one behind the science?

This exibit allows us as lay persons to see inside the human body in ways that have never been possible before. I peered into one man's skull and saw the nerve and blood vessels behind the eye ball...the very culprits responsible for my migraines. And I saw that the nerve travels down into the shoulder, which explains why massaging that pressure point feels so good when I have a headache. I saw hearts, lungs (the smoker's lungs weren't pretty), bones, muscles, and brains. Who knew that the human brain is larger than a horse's brain? I didn't.

It's amazing how everything in the human body fits together. How did God fit it all in there? Why does it work so well? The one basic observation that was powerfully reinforced by this exhibition was this: All of our body parts can come together, but there is a force that has to make it go. The heart is ready to beat, but something has to make it start. The life force that runs through everything is invisible, powerful, and ultimately good. God is wonderful.

The Body Worlds exhibit is not without controversy, but as usual I looked beyond the controversy, and from a very chilled-out, secure place, thought, "This is the pretty dang cool." It's great that exhibits like these allow us to see more of God's creation, and appreciate the ways in which God not only breathes life into us, but allows us to learn more about the process.

Check it out if you get the chance.