Community and connection

 "Belonging is the innate desire to be part of something larger than us."  Brene Brown Imperfect

We are made in the image of a Triune God. God exists in community the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. When He first created man He saw that it was not good for man to be alone and He made Eve.

This desire for connection goes down to our smallest level - the cell. A cell is the smallest living organism.

The Types of Cells

1. Human cells number in the trillions and are fundamental building blocks that form tissues, organs, and organ systems that work together to sustain life.
2. Each cell type in the human body is specialized for distinct functions, from stem cells capable of becoming other cell types to nerve cells that transmit signals.
3. Cells like osteocytes maintain bone structure, blood cells transport oxygen and fight infections, and adipocytes store energy and regulate various bodily functions.

All the types of cells have to work together for a healthy human . When cells become broken they turn into cancer cells.

Unlike all of the other cells listed, cancer cells work to destroy the body. Cancer results from the development of abnormal cell properties that cause cells to divide uncontrollably and spread to other locations. Cancer cell development can originate from mutations stemming from exposure to chemicals, radiation, and ultraviolet light. Cancer can also have genetic origins such as chromosome replication errors and cancer-causing viruses of the DNA.

Cancer cells are allowed to spread rapidly because they develop decreased sensitivity to anti-growth signals and proliferate quickly in the absence of stop commands. They also lose the ability to undergo apoptosis or programmed cell death, making them even more formidable. 

What does this mean? Cancer cells kill us because they literally stop healthy communications with other cells. This lack can come from our genetics (families of origins) or our environment (like viruses, radiation, UV etc...) and trauma.

So we are like cells that must communicate in healthy ways to function as the body of Christ. Here in lies my problem my parents never modeled how to interact with others, at least not in healthy meaningful ways. So our those of us who are relationally broken doomed to be cancerous? I don't think so and its because of stem cells.

Stem cells are the starter cells of creation.

Stem cells are unique in that they originate as unspecialized cells and can develop into specialized cells that can be used to build specific organs or tissues. Stem cells can divide and replicate many times to replenish and repair tissue. In the field of stem cell research, scientists take advantage of the renewal properties of these structures by utilizing them to generate cells for tissue repair, organ transplantation, and the treatment of disease. 

If your body were a building, your stem cells would be the foundation. Stem cells are the only cells in your body that can create specialized cells. They can make more than 200 specialized cells, such as blood and bone cells, among the trillions of cells in your body. One stem cell type builds your body. After building your body, another stem cell type serves as maintenance crew teams assigned to specific structures.

Stem cells do two things that no other cells can do:

• They continuously renew and divide to make exact replicas of themselves. Typical or normal cells multiply and divide, but they have limited lifespans.
• They’re the only cells that make specialized (differentiated) cells to replenish or repair specific cell types. Hematopoietic stem cells support blood and immune cells. Basal stem cells support skin cells. Mesenchymal  stem cells support bone, cartilage, muscle and fat.

What does this mean to us? If we are broken in our spiritual connection to God or to His body we can cause a spiritual cancer that can metastisize throughout the body. But God promises that He renews us from within. He gives us "spiritual stem cells," we are literally new creations. It takes time  for the cells to divide and differentiate to the point of replacing old structures but it does happen eventually

 So if you are broken in your connections like I am it is encumbant upon us to seek "stem cell treatment" not only for ourselves but for the health of the body.

Let's take it one step further our bodies don't just host trillions of our own cells we are literally an ecosystem made of up microflora. The human microbiome is the aggregate of all microbiota that reside on or within human tissues and biofluids along with the corresponding anatomical sites in which they reside.

Adam and Eve also were living amongst the animals and plants and communicating, just like our bodies. When we ignore the organisms that we live among it is again a scenario in which we crash and burn.

So we must fight to learn how to communicate effectively and we must be good stewards of the animals and plants that call us home