Did you know?

During anesthesia school I had some pretty detailed classes on anatomy and physiology. Interestingly, when studying the anatomy of a blood cell I found out that in the middle of every blood cell there is a lot of squiggly little molecules called hemoglobin. It’s this stuff called hemoglobin that moves oxygen from the lungs to every part of the body. Well, on the end of these squiggly little hemoglobins is a thing called a “heme group.” When looking at pictures of this “heme group,” I discovered that right in the center of this “heme group” is a cross. Going further, right in the center of that molecular cross is an iron atom (Fe). Well, when the blood passes into the lungs, it goes through a very thin layer—so thin that it actually allows an oxygen molecule (O²) from the air to connect with that iron atom. This process brings “breath” to every part of the body. (Now, I don’t want to take this too far, you have to bear with me—anesthesia school can be pretty boring!) As I saw this, the whole thing made me meditate on the passage found in Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” In my boring anatomy class, my mind wandered to ... “Where is that place in human anatomy, ‘between soul and spirit?’” In Greek, the word spirit literally means breath; and the heme group is the very spot where “breath” connects with us. In this way, the blood—by bringing breath—actually brings life to every part of our body. And just for fun … I later found out that most historians believe that the nails used to crucify Jesus on the cross were made out of iron (Fe)—the very thing that is at the center of all of this amazing stuff. ~