A year ago, my second-oldest son broke his pelvis playing rugby. He recovered completely (and started for his high varsity team, St. Edwards of Lakewood, Ohio, which won the state championship this year). During the process, his doctor told us that every cell in the body is, in fact, replaced over a seven-year period, with bones generally taking the longest. He told us that in a few years, if healed properly, my son would have a completely new pelvis. Other cells are replaced daily, monthly, yearly. I confirmed the science of this elsewhere, and it got me to me thinking about the soul.
Every cell in your body over the past seven years, including the ones that make up your permanent bodily scars, the cells that form your skull, the cells in your eyes and ocular nerves allowing you to read these words, and every cell in your brain, where your memory resides physically, are completely, that existed in 2005 no longer exist at all. This means memories of your childhood have migrated through brain cells that have been replaced many, many times over since the events you experienced. The “you” who conceived a child in 1995, or hit a home run in Little League in 1974, or typed a paper in college in 1983, has been replaced down to the smallest unit and physical particle. Our minds are more than our memories, of course. Our souls are the immortal, permanent principle of our self, as our faith informs us, and there is something profoundly beautiful, even musical, about the way nature (your body) and supernature (your soul) gently plays the endlessly mysterious song of your existence in the recurring resurrection of your cells in your entire body, over time, and thus echoes the resurrection of Christ, and our eternal lives in heaven with Him who composed the song.
I would like to add that IT IS the divine freedom of choice and opportunity we have been blessed with where we can guide the efficacy of that cellular renewal to greatest potential both physically and soulfully!
