This is Pastor Tim’s article which appeared in the Evening Leader on Wednesday, July 5, 2023.
I am sitting here in my office with a Band-Aid on my arm. The Red Cross is here at Wayne Street today and now I am a pint low. I have been giving blood consistently since I was in high school. Turns out that I have a very common blood type (O+). A lot people have O+, so they want my blood often. Every 2 months, they get a pint. Been that way for years.
I have gotten various pins and awards for the gallons and gallons of blood I have given over the years. I have a ton of t-shirts and I have received coupons and such. I have eaten a lot of Red Cross snacks and met a lot of nice people through the years. I also like to think that I have saved a lot of lives.
My mom has received numerous blood transfusions over the years, and I always felt like I was trying to replenish what she received. I am not sure I could donate enough to make that up, but I am doing my best. When I visit someone in the hospital who received a blood transfusion, I always tell them that I am sure they got a pint of mine and to be very careful because it comes with a side effect of becoming awesome. They usually laugh, which is why I tell them that.
But today, as I am sitting here reflecting on this, I suddenly realized something. I did a quick search and found out that the first recorded successful blood transfusion was in 1665 when a doctor in England did a transfusion between dogs. 2 years later, another doctor in France attempted to do a blood transfusion from a lamb to a human. That transfusion was reported to be successful. Do not try this at home.
It wasn’t until about 250 years later when a scientist in Austria discovered the three major blood types of O, A, and B. This discovery made the success rate of blood transfusions go up significantly. In 1972, blood began widespread screening for hepatitis and other diseases, and the procedure became that much safer. Today, 13.6 million pints of blood are collected each year to give to people who need it. Since there are shortages all the time that means we never have enough blood for the people who need it. Blood is in high demand.
Yet no viable synthetic blood has ever been created. We have some solutions that can help when put into the body, but there is nothing like blood. I have seen with my own eyes; sick people get a new lease on life from one pint of blood, yet we cannot fabricate it.
You can say we evolved that way, but how I see it, the incredible nature of blood tells me it was designed to be exactly what we need. Animals and people all have well developed organs and circulatory systems so blood can allow us to survive in this world. One of the key measures of health is your heart and of all the muscles in your body, your heart is the only one you can’t live without. That is because it is your heart that keeps your blood flowing. Blood is a chemical that we cannot manufacture but our bodies produce naturally.
God’s design of the human body is amazing. I don’t see any signs of accident or chance; I see purpose and design in how our body works. The book of Genesis says that we were created out of the dust of the earth. Whether our earth is 6,000 years old or 70 million years old, I have not seen anything as complex as our bodies. That is because we were designed on purpose, for a purpose, by the God who gives purpose to life itself.
Psalm 139 is one of the most beautiful Psalms in the Bible and in that Psalm, the writer claims that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” No truer words have ever been written.
I’m as guilty as anyone at getting down on the state of the world today but you have got to admit, we should all experience a whole lot more awe and wonder than what we do.