Dr. Henry Lodge, a member of the faculty at Columbia Medical School states that we lose 1% of our cells each and every day. Our bodies are made up of trillions of cells that live for weeks or months, then die and are replaced in an endless cycle over our lifetime. A few key cells called stem cells are not part of this process I'll call regeneration. When you exercise, your muscles release specific substances, according to Dr. Lodge, that tell your cells to grow. The other "master signal" is emotion. Anger, stress, and loneliness send the same signals as a sedentary lifestyle that cause cell decay. Love, optimism, and a sense of community trigger a process of growth at a cellular level. You choose whether new cells come "onboard" stronger or weaker by movement and mood. True biological aging is a slow and graceful process, but I like most people need to eat better, exercise more, and reduce lifestyle stress.In my lifetime, medical science has reached a point where it has recognized that certain cells are "regenerated" and in some cases it is believed organs and limbs can be regrown in the near future. Stimulating cell regeneration can affect how diabetes, cardiology, and even audiology is ed. Most published articles approach the subject as when, not if, but the mysteries of how God made us is still a mystery. Stem cell research has even made some scientists so excited they want to kill embryo's to discover what might be medically possible. While killing some to try and help others live is immoral, this research does have great potential. Extrapolated fully, regeneration can become cloning. Somewhere in the world, there is a lab that has moved beyond the mammals they've been able to clone and are working on humans. Ethics is the study of what is right and what is wrong. Readers of this blog have had many wordy discussions about the subject, but suffice it to say that when mankind moves to this point, all the work that Hitler had done to establish a super race will rear it's head.
I was so fascinated with this word I looked up in Webster's what it actually means. The adjective regenerate means formed or created again; spiritually reborn or converted; restored to a better, higher, or more worthy state; or to chnage radically and for the better. The RE part of the word means again, or anew. GENERATE means to bring into existence, or to originate by a vital process (same as to beget). Generation means a group of individuals born and living contemporaneously, or a body of living beings constituting a single step in the line of descent from an ancestor. These definitions will be important as we look at why there is wisdom in regeneration. Spiritual regeneration is the first example. Salvation by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is the first step in what the definition described as "restored to a better, higher, or more worthy state". Despite what you may have heard in some churches, that salvation experience that saved you and allows your soul to be eternally secure, is only the beginning. In the same way that the body sluffs off cells every day, and requires food, movement, and emotion to thrive, our spiritual bodies require worship, service through obedience, and time spent with God every day. I can't point to a study that shows 1% of our spiritual self decays and requires regeneration each day, but I believe it. Spirituality is also a lifelong experience but unlike the advancements in medical science has not improved over the centuries and recent decades. The complexity of modern life has become the idol that this generation has chosen to worhip.
Multi-generational context is a fancy way of saying that we should recognize how intertwined we are with those that came before us as well as those that have come since. How we were each raised, what our families believed and taught, as well as which part of the country or world we live in controls our perspective. Obese people often come from a family where everyone ate large quantities, so it was "normal". If you're an "outdoor person", or thrill seeker, or humble and loving, those qualities probably did not originate with you. A never ending argument of nature or nurture can't define if it's genetic or based on what seems normal to you, but we are all affected. You are also passing a baton on to the next generation, so an intentional plan will allow your regeneration to be a positive one. A balanced lifestyle includes the spiritual, physical, and emotional. In each of these areas, regeneration is a process as important as those parts in the Bible that had all those names of who begat whom. Setting the example, setting the standard, and setting the expectation will produce far more fruits than hoping tomorrow will be better. Most of your body will be replaced in the next 100 days with cells that are waiting for the "masters signal". Most of your spiritual righteousness will be worn away by Satan's influence in the next 100 days unless you stay in touch with the "masters signal". Your emotional quotient (see the Feb. 2006 blog) must include the ability to discern the danger as well as the promise of regeneration. In all aspects of the word wisdom must be applied. Think through the possibilities, then look at the photo of my grandparents at the beginning of this blog. How different was their world, because most of the regeneration we've discussed was possible then, even if they didn't know it. How might your future be as different?
