Saturday, December 8, 2012

Invaluable Body Parts

"But now there are many members, but one body.  And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you."  On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our unseemly members come to have more abundant seemliness..." (I Corinthians 12:20-23 NASB)

In describing the importance of spiritual gifts, Paul uses the illustration of the human body to describe the value of each part.  He lists how every part is important, even those body parts which are less honorable or seemingly less valuable.

I truly came to recognize this when I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2004.  Before then, I was hardly aware of my bladder, except when it needed emptying.  Yet, it is an amazing organ and has a valuable function.  In simple terms, the webMD website describes how urine is made in the kidneys, and travels down two tubes called ureters to the bladder. The bladder stores the urine, allowing urination to be infrequent and voluntary. In addition, the bladder is lined by layers of muscle tissue that stretch to accommodate urine. Hence, the normal capacity of the bladder is 400 to 600 mL or about half a quart.

If we didn't have a bladder, urine would constantly flow out of our bodies.  Wouldn't that be a horrific thing!!!  All activities of life would be affected.  As a matter of fact, urination would be frequent and involuntary...a constant burden upon working, participating in sports activities, and overall daily life.

So, here's to the bladder and all other body parts that don't get much credit.  Every part of the body is important.  Try to keep all of your body parts as long as you can.

Unfortunately, my bladder was killing me and had to be removed.  I talk more about this in my book, "A Place I Didn't Want To Go: My Victory Over Cancer."  It is available on Amazon and Kindle.  It can be accessed at:

http://www.amazon.com/Place-Didnt-Want-Go-Victory/dp/0983453624/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324565593&sr=1-1

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