Bring it on!

BOX SCORE
Element	Current	Std. Range	Trend
Hemoglobin	11.1	13-17	^
Platelets	163	140-375	^
ANC	340	1800-8300	v

Well, the numbers are in (as of Thursday morning). These results are not typical, but then that sounds like when you go to someone's home territory, and they say, "Oh, we never have weather like this." By not typical, I mean that when my platelets and hemoglobin go up significantly, my ANC usually follows suit, but in this case they are out of sync. No wonder only the Shadow knew what would happen this time around. 

As I ponder these results, it reminds me of my conviction that medical science, in my judgment, probably knows something on the order of 1% of what there is to know about the human body. In spite of amazing progress in learning to fight various diseases, medical science never seems quite to catch up. For example, we know how to treat some cases of diabetes or heart disease, but most cancers remain elusive. There are treatments that may prolong life a bit, but as for a cure, that seems frustratingly out of reach. Even all of those Corona viruses, like the common cold, influenza and Covid19 seem to be able to dodge attempts to eradicate them, or even keep them in check. 

This should not surprise anyone. Genesis chapter three indicates that there is a curse on the world and its systems, brought on by the rebellion of our original parents, Adam and Eve. After they ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden, they knew fear, distrust and shame. When God confronted them with their disobedience, they failed to take responsibility for their actions. The woman blamed the serpent, and the husband blamed his wife. The fact is that they knew the right thing to do, but they chose not to do it.

There followed a curse brought on by their flagrant violation of the one rule God had given them to follow:

The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock...
    ... dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life...

¹⁶ To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
    but he shall rule over you.”

¹⁷ And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
    and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
¹⁸ thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:14, 16-19) 

Ever since that day, the perfect world that God created has been in decline. Part of that decline is the ever increasing number and seriousness of the diseases we are subject to. In addition, the loss of that original perfection resulted in the introduction of errors into the replication of our DNA from one generation to another. 

Did you ever wonder why the Bible reports that people lived for hundreds of years during the beginning of human history, but now we are allotted our three score and ten? I believe it isn't because the Book of Genesis is a fairy tale. Rather, over many generations, the curse we are under has resulted in continual degradation of our DNA, making us more and more vulnerable to 

"The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to," that Shakespeare's Hamlet  bemoaned in the famous "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy. (Hamlet: Act 3, Scene 1; Wm. Shakespeare) 

Even death itself is the result of that curse.

By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.”  (Genesis 3:19, emphasis added)

The rest of the Bible after Genesis chapter 3 is the story of God's reconciliation of mankind to himself and the redemption of creation to its original perfection. 

And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23)

I am thankful to God that one day, through His gracious gift of reconciliation through Jesus Christ,  I will be free of all the imperfections that have plagued me all my life, whether they be physical, emotional or spiritual. 

But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:13)

I say bring it on!