Friday, April 15, 2011

Love will Hold us Together

Let's just get right to it then.

I have a great privilege to encounter and engage so many amazing people through my missionary work on campus. One fine day, we were on campus talking to people about Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. I met this sweet girl who grew up Protestant, but has always had a genuine interest in the Catholic faith. She was a girl with alot of questions, but no one to ask them to. I asked her to lunch, and we have been meeting every Thursday since to talk about life and our faith. She is such a beautiful disciple of Christ with so much genuine love for him.

So we meet for breakfast this morning, and I was armed with my rosary and Catechism to give her for our meeting today. She accepted them with such joy and interest. We are both looking forward to our journey through the Catechism!
But, what I didn't know was what the Lord would bring me through my encounter with her.

We began talking and sharing life. I don't even know how this topic came up, but she begins to tell me about her love for science and learning, and how she can see God's hand so clearly in the way he created us. She then begins to tell me about this protein molecule called laminin. Laminin is a protein molecule "that is a component of connective tissue basement membrane and promotes cell adhesion." Now this connective protein is alleged to be in the shape of a cross. But, not only that it is made up of three strands that intertwine (Hello trinity!!). Now this blew my mind! I couldn't believe it. God's mark of the cross in our bodies, but also in a protein that literally helps keep us from falling apart.

Well, I was excited, but I wanted to make sure that faith and reason matched up here. So I did some research. While my euphoria was a little dampened, my faith increased in a way I never expected.

I found a blog written by scientists dedicated to integrating science and faith. They talked about this very important topic of Laminin because from my extensive research (google search ;)) it seems as though this is a popular topic. Christians make the argument that Laminin shows that the Christian God is the One True God. They addressed it saying that while Laminin is key in connecting cells and tissue it is one of many that works together to do this function. Also, it's cross shape is really an idealized version of laminin. While it is depicted in many science textbooks as having the shape of a cross, in reality the version in your body is more like a swirly with 4 points.

Well, needless to say I was disappointed, but the last paragraph in the article is what sparked the renewed faith and hope in me.

"Instead of pointing to superficial features of biomolecules such as the “cross-shaped” architecture of laminin, there are many more substantive ways to use biochemistry to argue for the necessity of a Creator and for the value He places on human life. As a case in point, the salient characteristics of biochemical systems identically match those features we would recognize immediately as evidence for the work of a human design engineer. The close similarity between biochemical systems and the devices produced by human designers logically compels this conclusion: life’s most fundamental processes and structures stem from the work of an Intelligent, Intentional Agent."

This brought me back to what everything has been pointing to latley....the dignity of the human person. We are the mark of our Creator because we are made in His image and likeness. The cross is nothing but a piece of wood if the person of Christ is left off of it. Everything in this world has meaning because it has the mark of the creator. Laminin is significant and something to be marveled at because the creator created it. But take the person out of it, take the creator out of it and it stands alone. Our world has slowly taken God out of everything and in turn taken the person out of everything. Our relationships are reduced to online media, Our families are created artificially, Our politicians grab at profit instead of the common good, Our school systems reward productivity over creativity.

So, Laminin is not the miracle that Christ was showing me today, my friend Brittney was. Her body and soul is the thing I should be marveling in for it has the intimate mark of the creator.
As I was thinking and praying about this, I even remember distinctively just looking at her across the table right before she told me the story of Laminin and listening to her share her heart and I saw Him. I saw Christ in her and I adored him there.

The human person has the mark of the Trinity and the shape of the cross.

If only the world had the eyes to see it.

But, Be not afraid,Christ heals the sight of the blind.

Sunday, April 3, 2011