What an amazing machine

By MARY JANE HOLT
Contributing Writer

The human body is an absolutely phenomenal machine. Our Maker created it that way when He made it in His own image. And do we ever sell it short! When injured or ill, the well cared for body often will cure itself better without medical intervention than with it.

Of course, I'm talking about the body that is nourished properly and given adequate exercise and rest by the person to whom it belongs. That body has its first line of defense intact when injury or illness strikes. The second line of defense (though some would call this first) is the attitude of the person who owns the body.

I do not count the essence of who and what a person is eternally to be the same as the mortal body in which they live for a while. The body is the machine we are given to use as we work to accomplish the purpose/s for which we come to earth. I believe we came from God, our Maker, and will return to Him.

The human body is much like an automobile, airplane or any other mode of transportation. All are temporary. No matter how well maintained, sooner or later any mode of transportation will begin to fail.

Yet there's a huge difference between the failure of manmade modes and the human body. When that plane, train or automobile dies, although parts may be salvaged and used in other vehicles, for the most part it's over.

When the body begins to fail and eventually dies, it's not over at all. Parts are sometimes salvaged, yes; but beyond that, the soul that lived in the human form lives on. God knew how weak my faith was early on so he allowed me an experience in 1968 that grounded my belief about this.

I was working on a medical floor at the hospital in my hometown when I went in one morning to check on one of my patients. She was a frail, sweet old lady. We spoke briefly and she asked me to let some light into the room. I walked over to open the blinds, and as I did so, I felt that she left the room. As I turned back to her, it was clear that her body was laying there, but she was gone.

Perhaps you may have experienced the feeling of someone walking into or out of a room without actually seeing or hearing them. Same thing. One second she was there. The next she was gone. I have never forgotten that experience.

Now, not all deaths I have witnessed have been so easy, so instant. But they all have left me with an awareness, not of death to the person who lived in it, but simply of that person being gone. And why shouldn't he or she be? When the body no longer works, it's time to move on.

And that brings me back to the attitudes we have at various times as we live and move around in our bodies. Some folks just don't want to move away. They go out kicking and screaming emotionally and spiritually. Others somehow exit with indescribable peace, even joy.

Prior to that final exit from the body however, many tears are often shed. Some folks are ashamed of their tears, even feel that it shows a lack of faith. Not hardly.

The body was a gift given for you to use well during your stay on earth. Sometimes there are tears of regret because the person knows he or she did not use the body well. Others cry because they used it well, but still had so much more they wanted to do. There are countless reasons why a dying person might want to cry.

And I suppose I am writing this today to urge you not to discourage a dying friend or loved one from crying. If you haven't been there yet, you will be sooner or later.

Know that the dying one is grieving just as you are, or will. Regardless of what our faith tells us, no matter what we believe about an afterlife or eternity, the fact is there are a lot of unknowns and fear is normal, too.

Tears therefore are okay, even healthy. Right up until the very end, tears are good for us. When the biggest storm of all comes our way and the windows of our souls are dusty with earth travel residue then our tears wash away the dirt and grime and make it possible for us to see more clearly, in preparation for the time when we no longer just see reflections in a mirror but face to face, a time when we will no longer know in part, but know fully and be fully known.