What is the first step in a Cellular Transformation and what is the purpose of examining the structure and the natural roles of our cells?
In the creation of all things living and innate, we might consider God as being something similar in nature to static electricity or gravity. This universal force is the glue that binds every part to every other part of the whole of creation. It is much like a fabric, a cloth that is interwoven through all that is perceived as real. However, as I have noted, this unseen presence is not static. There are many dynamics that play upon the surface of this netting, not unlike wind blowing on a sheet that has been hung out to dry.
Using this same analogy, let us assume that too much wind might cause tears in the cloth or a prolonged period in the sun might cause the strands of the cloth to become brittle and eventually to deteriorate in places. An attack by a swarm of moths, if the cloth remains exposed to the elements, might also result in damage to at least some small patches. Long term neglect will obviously result in the transformation of the solids of this “material” back into their carbon-based components, perhaps reintegrating into the soil into which it falls or being used as fuel, in an energy conversion process, as in the case of the ingestion by moths.
This is the natural transformation of all things. It is a part and particulate of God that is the essence of all things created. There is no static reality. Nothing exists without change. The idea that change is associated with Time, and not God, however, is deviously misleading.
A counting of seconds, minutes, hours, will not alter the rate at which change occurs. It only reinforces the fact that change is occurring. To suggest that these changes are occurring faster or slower, only provides a pretext for intervention, acting upon the urgency of something for the sake of gaining some sense of control. This premise is utterly preposterous.
There is a natural course to all things, however. On the surface of a calm pond, a droplet of rain could conceivably cause a circular ripple that would, if left undisturbed, reach every shore, near or far. But even an action such as this would likely not continue without being acted upon in some form by other elements in their shared environment. Waves generated by a breeze, a rock or tree limb blocking the ripple’s path, these things might also play on the resultant action. However, it is important to note that such things would not be construe d as a planned or orchestrated “happening” for the purpose of exacting some specific outcome. This is the randomness that is at heart of the God of Creation, the Essence of All Things Living and Inert.
The thing to remember first and foremost, is that we are but a single, and tiny part of this ever changing system. We have been given a structure, a form, a platform for our awareness. Every living thing must have this same capacity. If a plant or animal had no physiological connection with its immediate environment it would not be able to adapt or survive.
If the root could not sense the soil it would not know to push down and into the life giving nutrients it requires to live. If it did not have a porous structure, water and food could not be absorbed, waste could not be eliminated. Because of our incessant distraction, primarily dictated by our forced interaction with the concept of Time, we, of all living things, have become far less aware of our immediate environment and correspondingly our critical dependency upon it.
We have created our own version of reality which denies the true essence of God and passes on those associated powers to men and women who would persuade us that we are walking the path God has set out for us, or worse, that no path exists for anyone anywhere.
One of our greatest fears, as humans, has been the idea that we are fragile and helpless without the sanctification of a named Supreme Being, (one created and controlled by man), or without the trappings of a social structure that demands a regimented standard of behavior in order to insure the survival of the community as a whole.
After its inception as a distinct element of those things we call living, does an amoeba require other amoeba to insure its existence as an organic being? You might suggest that the more amoebas that exist, the greater the chance there is that the species as a whole would continue to exist, but even this would be a fallacy. At any given point in our existence, cosmic changes can act to proliferate or exterminate any given life form. The thought that there is safety in numbers is ludicrous. In fact, the overcrowding of an ecosystem will often mean that other elements are pushed out or consumed so much as to cause a shortage of that which had previously sustained the rapidly multiplying community.
The effect is much like algae taking over a small pond. Once all of the other life forms have been choked out, the ecosystem as a whole implodes. The ecosystem is changed. Other life forms may take over or the mineral elements may cover and convert the plant life to the status of fossil fuels, in which, of course, we have found the residual energy that once again points us to the Essence of All Things Living and Inert, God.
Thinking in these terms should awaken us to the reality that we, as humans, will never be able to master our environment or control our destinies any more than a flower in a field of flowers. So, should the flower be worried?
Here is a simple life form. It requires no planning other than a reaction to the surrounding elements with which it co-exists. The finding of nutrients in the soil triggers the growth and the extending of roots deeper into the soil. The presence of water results in the growing and broadening of leaves or bigger roots. The presence of sunlight results in the plant’s orientation and growth toward the sky in its quest to drink in more of this energy. The flower pedals, stamen, pistil, and seeds, ensure the next generation of flowers comes into existence.
Is the plant or animal happier when it thrives? One would assume so. It is even easier to consider the plant or animal to be experiencing an easing of some existing tension, given the acquisition of sunlight, food, and water, the primary fuels of organic life; this as opposed to DIS-EASE, the condition brought about by the lack of these life sustaining elements.
We all know what it means to be sick. We all think we know what death is. It is interesting that we can be living in unhealthy and non-life-sustaining environments and in this state be encouraged to pray to God for strength or deliverance from our circumstance. How odd it must seem to God that we would choose to deny our physiological condition, the need for balance within our ecosystem, calling instead for some unnatural resolution of our dilemma. How many times will we cry out for the rocks to give up their water?
The belief that we can and should insist that our natural environment be surreptitiously redesigned for our benefit, ignores the fact that the rest of Creation continues to exist based on this cosmic balance, this awareness of God’s greater design. One cannot reject this basic construct without rejecting God and the life that has been given to each of us.
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So, who is in charge? As you look around to see what has become of our “Garden of Eden”, it should make you wonder how things have gotten so “out of control.” Where are we being led and are we ever going to be free of DIS-EASE when we get to where we are going?
This question is not aimed at some future generation. Remember, Time is the boss man’s convenience. This question should be asked at the beginning of every waking day. From sun up to sundown, from sundown to sun up, the world turns and us with it. Are we in a place where we can readily get all that we need to thrive? Or are we being manipulated to allow others to survive at our expense?
No one flower is “better” or “more important” than the others around it. It may have evolved to fill a niche in the ecosystem but without hundreds, if not millions of similar organisms, it would simply be an anomaly, a freak of nature. Our sameness is a good thing, not the opposite. Our focus on the so-called strengths of our species often causes us to overlook or minimize our shared weaknesses. We are all vulnerable and should not be afraid to admit this. It is not a curse or something to be ashamed of, causing us to feel weak or “less than” in the eyes of others.
In fact our vulnerability is our primary link to our Creator. Every cell in our body can be acted upon by outside forces. Natural and unnatural toxins, accidents, and attacks from other species as well as our own can leave us weak or injured. Preparing for the possibility by creating artificial environments often serves only to remove us from the nurturing elements of our necessary biological ecosystems. Our vulnerability underlines an interdependency that cries out that God is always with us. It requires our utmost faith in the grand design. By ignoring this, we deny the possibility that God cares for all things equally.
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The structure of a cell is a wondrous thing. The specific design, the details that make us who we are as one of God’s creatures cannot be overstated. It is far more than a haphazard stew of circumstance. Any scientist attempting to create life independent of the current template will surely fail. We may be able to replicate cells but we have never improved upon their astoundingly complex design.
Every cell that has ever existed can and will maintain its living status autonomously if provided with the building blocks of life. Over 50 different nutrients are needed in our life sustaining cocktail, many to be found in the plethora of plant life that exists in so many places across this planet.
As we well know, if plants didn’t exist, neither would we or any of the other animals on this planet. It is also important to note that the decomposition of plant and animal life is crucial to the ongoing perpetuation of life. There is and always has been an intricate balance to the delicate dance of the living. It is a simple matter of give and take, the sharing of all things nature.
In this moment, we inhale or exhale, we ingest, or expel that which we need or don’t need within our bodies, down to the cellular level, to assume this status that we call living. Each cell has three basic parts that in laymen’s terms I will call the outer barrier, the inner filling, and the core.
The outer barrier is meant to keep out things that might prove harmful to the normal operation or function of the cell. The inner filling is a storage space for the ingredients that have been brought in to insure the continued operation of the cell. And finally, there is the core, that part which gives the cell purpose, determining its shape, size, its connective role to other cells, and other physical attributes genetically transmitted within that cell and assumed by the cell itself. It also acts as a stand-alone communications system that allows for messaging within that greater collection of cells which may or may not surround it.
In fact, every cell, whether plant or animal can be artificially sustained. In all cases, however, regardless of observed longevity, every cell “dies.” Cells may be artificially preserved but in the end they eventually break down to a sub-atomic level. There is no stopping that truth. It is worth noting that the so-called death of any one cell will seldom, if ever, directly impact the aliveness of the cells around it. Our cells die by the millions and yet we still live, life being noticeably separated from the passing physical deconstruction.
It is a natural thing, this coming apart. It is as innocuous as the pulsing of the tides, the making and breaking up of clouds. Even in the apparent destruction of planets and stars, we know that the perceived solid object does not disappear, but instead continues to exist in waves of sound, gasses, dust, light, or energy particles. Such are the invisible threads of all that is a part of us and that which is the Essence of All Things Living and Innate.
The cell is a message from God. The cell confirms to our limited consciousness that we have assumed a form. The reason for this is what needs to be considered.
Why were we made this way? Why are we, even at a cellular level so dependent on things outside of us in order to exist? Is this interdependence relative to life or just incidental?
The walls of our cells make us autonomous; let us know we are one among many. Similarly, the skin on the outside of our body reminds us that we are a separate form but by the same token a kinsman to all other similarly created life forms. With this insight we can either choose to isolate from other living organisms or draw nearer, bonding for mutual support or defense.
The inner filling is the area or part of us that serves to hold, process, use, store, expand (as per reproduction), or to expel waste, the unnecessary elements of the whole living process. This activity is our singular purpose. If the outer wall of the cell did not protect or was not able to absorb or expel what the cell needed to survive, it would no longer sustain life. Similarly, if the inner filling was unable to successfully perform its function, the cell would die.
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At this point, I would like to make a brief comment about life and death. Without that first spark of creation, everything we might perceive in this, our life, would be random and without form. Gravity, centrifugal force, electro-magnetic fields, matter, and so on, would simply have no way of coming into a state of existence in and of its self. The only other way we could collectively envision this is if we were all “tuned in” to a common thought or vision, separate of matter but constructing it, none-the-less, in an effort to validate our own existence.
With all of the competing thoughts that contribute to the gentile chaos of this, our human existence, it would seem somewhat unreasonable to assume that we would have wanted it to turn out this way, and having had the power, including a god-like sense of reasoning and an unlimited capacity for creativity, such problems would have seemed easily rectified. Not to mention you would never see anything like this come out of any form of social committee.
So what is life? It must certainly include an awareness of whom and what we are as living creatures. But an infant knows not of such things. Is he or she any less alive? If an elder person is not able to communicate but is sustained by the efforts of others, are they any less alive?
When the non-animated cells in the body begin to disintegrate we now know that there is a release of energy. Is that energy any less alive than the cells from which it originated, cells which were originally sparked to life by other cells that may have fed off of the byproducts of all that came before?
To embrace the timelessness of life is to embrace God, the Essence of All Things Living and Innate. Time is the only thing that causes us to assume that life is finite. Therefore, we must never forget that it is we humans who made up the concept of Time in the first place! Without Time, life is a cycle, a never ending wheel of renewal. How we choose to manage our lives would then seem to be the most important aspect of it.
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Within the walls, the inner filling of every cell there is a core or nuclei. This is the magic of the mystery that we continue to unravel. This is the part of every cell that gives it purpose. It is the instructions that can either be followed or ignored. It is the component that if damaged or destroyed, again results in the physical break down of that cell.
So we have three parts to our being, the skin, the outer protective armament, the inner filling, part warehouse, part machine, and the core, a library of information, the source and meaning of life.
Using this illustration it is easy to postulate that our outer self must engage with the world externally in order to successfully thrive. We do not merely hide behind this wall, it is interactive. The inner self, constitutes our ability to be productive. It compels us physically to take in the elements necessary for our existence and to rid ourselves of that which we do not need. It also allows for our entanglement in the process of reproduction, allowing us to be creative in a significant, reflective way. The inner core, the inner sanctum of analogy, allows us to carry about the essence of God and to reflect upon that presence.
We are a part of God as much as God is a part of us. God is also revealed in this same manner, Protector, Provider, Animator, and Creator. This same structure is present in the flower and the tiger. We cannot deny that we are all connected in this way, and such is the message of God.
Once again I will remind the reader that these thoughts are not new. Each of us has a unique perspective on the world and universe that spins and spins around us. The compulsion for observation and record keeping does give greater insight as to the observable nature of this existence but cannot be an end in and of its self. Something more than ourselves is whispering in our ears, letting us know at the very least, that there is more to it than meets the eye.
It is in the process of shuffling through this theological and philosophical mountain of data that form takes its existence from the void. It is a cosmic ripple, a silent but confident belief that each of us desires a reasonable explanation.
Continue Reading "The Church of the Cellular Transformation - 3
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewshortstory.asp?AuthorID=11490&id=59952
Before I read, I thought that this article (not a story) was about how the church of cellular phones as changed our perspective on life… ;-)
Actually, as I read it, I see that you are presenting a view of religious thought as a naturist. I think that's quite all right, because this view is far less dangerous than much of theology based on proof less mythology.
Where I differ is that I don't see anything godlike in the life force that creates cells that survive only to survive, in an endless cycle that eventually creates higher forms of life and eventually creates awareness, this stage we are at now. Our awareness is not necessarily based on time, although we know from experience how long (how many suns rising) we will live, as a rule. Hence, we invented time to help us keep track of events going on around us, not to define our belief in God.
