A Science Lesson

Oxygen! It's essential to life, and last night I spent a lot of time dwelling on it.

Actually, I'm writing this on the 27th but recognize that I'll have no opportunity to post until the 28th, so if I switch verb tenses, I apologize! Anyways, I've always loved science, and although Chemistry wasn't my favorite, learning about the elements last year was great! I learned a lot, and below you'll see a picture of my notebook with some notes I quickly jotted down. A few of the items will be referenced in this post, but they will all be amply explained, so don't strain your eyes trying to read it if you cannot figure out how to magnify the picture! 

First of all, oxygen is diatomic. This means that it cannot exist as a single atom, floating in space (like silver [Ag] or gold [Au] could). Oxygen is REALLY, in it's most small form, two oxygen atoms bonded together to form a singular molecule! This is what we breathe; and it's EXTREMELY important to life on earth! I cannot think of one organism that doesn't need oxygen to survive! Luckily, it comes in great quantities, making up 21% of our atmosphere!

Back up a second. Being a diatomic molecule, it has a triune nature: one oxygen atom, a bond that connects the two, and another oxygen atom. This is remarkably similar to our God, and we can draw some comparisons to the Trinity! The Trinity too has a triune nature: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us that those who know Him also know His Father, from which we can draw the conclusion that the Father and Son are EXTREMELY similar, almost the same (like two oxygen atoms!). What bonds the Father and Son together? That's right, the Holy Spirit, which is the medium that they share their love through! If you look closely at the picture below, you'll notice each oxygen has 6 electrons in it's outermost shell, or ring (to be happy, an oxygen needs 8), and so it shares 2 with ANOTHER oxygen atom (who has six and lacks 2!). Crazy, huh?

Ozone, oxygen's cousin, is three oxygen atoms bonded together. Ozone is the stuff high in our stratosphere, and blocks the harmful rays of the sun from getting to our planet! Otherwise, we'd be fried by radiation! For you football fans, it's like the offensive line; it protects the quarterback and runningback. For those of you who enjoy coffee, it's a filter, pure and simple!! Oxygen also is needed to cause things to burn, which we can draw another comparison: Jesus needs to be present in order to set a heart ablaze! He is the fuel from which we burn; His energy gives us strength to carry on and serve His purposes to His end for His glory! And, when something is burning, that oxygen bonds with carbon and takes the harmful stuff away in carbon dioxide, or smoke. Jesus takes the sin away from our lives when He kindles our hearts! See how God created our world to proclaim His majesty?

Alright, here's the mind blower, and I've drawn another diagram for you... hopefully you'll understand this next concept! Much like a magnet, when oxygen bonds with two hydrogen atoms, it becomes polar. This means that it has a slightly charged positive and negative side (I labeled them North and South, respectively). When we add to God, we become polar and He becomes something less than what He was before (one oxygen disappears, the hydrogen is added; this can be family, our job, money, anything that we love unheathily besides God). And because of this polarity in our lives, we actually gather more and more junk that we add onto God (the water molecules line up like a magnet; the hydrogen [positive] will line up with another molecule's oxygen [negative]). Does your brain hurt yet? Take a moment to absorb it all.

SPEAKING of absorption, that's exactly what happens when we breathe in oxygen! The oxygen we breathe in is diffused through our lungs and into our bloodstream, where it travels all over our body. When it reaches muscle tissue, it absorbs into that tissue, becoming one with the muscle. What it does there, I'm not sure, but I do know it helps prevent muscle pain because it slows the build up of lactic acid. But it becomes ONE with us; just as our salvation has brought the Spirit into us and now we and it are one! Us and God are INSEPARABLE, just like the oxygen in our body! The oxygen actually helps us move and keep living; it's not just some magical substance we breathe in and out! God permits us to dive deep into His mysteries and find what's there!

So while in today's post there isn't a big 'take-away' point, or important lesson to be learned, I pray it WILL open your mind to  the things unseen. I believe that everything God has made proclaims His majesty, even something as simple as a diatomic covalently-bonded essential-to-life molecule. I encourage you to do research of your own, in any subject area, and see Jesus magnified there! Be it history, astronomy, economics, our world is centered around relationships. Relationships between particles, between people, and between God and man. These relationships are all a simple metaphor for the most complex, incomparable love of all time: God's. Let us pursue His love as we seek to show it to others! And we can learn more about His love as we pursue knowledge of His creation and interaction thereof! Always remember to #LiveItLikeJesus, and never ever forget the love your God has for you!