The Wonder of the Human Mouth
Ordinary Time
The dentist has me tap, tap, tap, then grind my teeth as he sought to adjust my bite. It’s a wonder to me how these teeth have to line up so perfectly lest they hit too hard or scrape as the jaw slides, thereby causing pain and deterioration of the tooth. In theory, it seems so simple. You chew up and down in order to tear food into digestible sizes. What I didn’t realize is how it is not simple at all. You don’t have two flat surfaces meeting each other but intricate, undulating surfaces.
And I wonder, isn’t it amazing how God has designed teeth so carefully to do their job? That somehow in the genes is the coding that tells the teeth it is time to form, and to form so perfectly.
When I mention this to the dentist, he tells me about the intricacies of the human jaw.
“It’s the most complicated joint in the whole human body. It opens and slides at the same time. Both sides are connected so that what one side does, affects the other side. No other joint in the human body is quite like that. When you raise your right arm, it doesn’t affect the left arm, nor does the right hip joint affect the left hip joint. But you can’t move the right side of the jaw without moving the left side.” And so we are formed, wonderfully, marvelously, in our mother’s wombs, where the DNA to produce the human jaw already exists, waiting to be brought to reality.
Isn’t it amazing how a routine visit to the dentist can awaken one to the wonder of God? God is the master engineer!
I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works. Psalm 139:14a
This post is part of a series of reflections on the Church year. click here to follow blog
Leave a Reply