Our body is assembled from the elements listed on the Periodic table. Some elements are much more common than others. The human body is approximately 99% comprised of just six elements: Oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, calcium, and phosphorus. Another five elements make up about 0.85% of the remaining mass: sulfur, potassium, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium. All of these 11 elements are essential elements. The remaining 0.15% of the human body is comprised of trace elements.
"You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”" Psalm 90.3
WE ARE MORE THAN DUST . . .
There is a thread that runs through our life and connects us to our past and our future. This runs backward and forward in time much further than we can even know. Its called our genealogy and it is based on genetics. We share DNA with our ancestors from the beginning to the end of time -- From the birth of mankind to the death of mankind.
DNA is possibly the most amazing thing in the universe. If you unraveled the DNA strand in a single cell it is nearly two (2) meters long. Conversely, that 2 meter strand fits into 0.09 micrometer of space within a cell! ONE micrometer is one-millionth of a meter, so .09 is 1/25,400th of an inch. If we unraveled the entire DNA in a human, it would stretch 10 billion miles. That is equivalent to a trip to Pluto AND back!
The structure of DNA is comprised of pairs of nitrogen-containing bases or nucleotides. These nitrogen-containing bases are cytosine, adenine, guanine, and thymine. The 3 million combinations of these pairs form the human genome that make us "humans."
DNA is found in all living things. 40-50% of our DNA is identical with a cabbage. We share 50% of our DNA with bananas. 99.9% of the DNA in all humans is identical. It is the tiny difference that allows us to be individuals.
8% of human DNA today is made up of ancient viruses that used to make us ill. Our body's DNA builds our immune system with the memory of how to kill those ancient viruses. The DNA in every human cell gets damaged over 100 times a day! But our body's DNA provides our bodies with systems to repair us. Our body exists because DNA can replicate and duplicate. Without DNA the 37 trillion cells that are constantly dying wouldn't be replaced. Radiation destroys our DNA, thus we did as our cells die! Get the picture?
DNA doesn't return to dust as quickly as one might think. Researchers calculated that DNA has a half-life of 521 years. Which means that even if a bone was frozen at an ideal preservation temperature of −5 ºC, the oldest animal that could be cloned is roughly 1.5 million years. (Not long enough to replicate a dinosaur.)
DUST AND DNA ARE NOT ENOUGH . . .
Even with our DNA and dust, we still need the breath to animate our life. "Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2.7"
Our birthday marks the day that the breath of life comes into our body and our yahrzeit marks the day we expel it and give up the ghost, as some say. Then, "... for dust you are and to dust you will return." Genesis 3.19.
COUNTING OUR DAYS . . .
In biblical prophecy interpretation there is the principle of a year-for-a-day, in which the word day in prophecy is considered to be symbolic of a year of actual time. In Numbers 14:34 the bible tells us The Israelites will wander for 40 years in the wilderness, one year for every day spent by the spies in Canaan.
Psalm 90.12 says "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."
"Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures;" 90.10.
On a birthday cake each year is marked with one candle. After we light birthday candles, we blow them out. We don't know the number candles we are given and when our breath will leave us. That is the year we won't be on the earth to blow out any more candles.
It is Jewish and Christian tradition for the living to light a single memorial candle to mark the entire life of a loved one. Jews call that a yartziet candle.
But when we light a yizkor/yahrzeit candle, unlike birthday candles, we don't blow it out. We let it burn. The breath, Hey (חַיִּים Ḥayyīm) the Spirit, doesn't die.
Epilogue: Steven Wasser (z"l), your name will be for a blessing. We missed you the moment you passed away. I shall forever share Nov 2nd with you. Rest in peace Steven.
My previous post -- About This Day.
Song: "On Nature" by Matisyahu
One of my favorite songs is by Matisyahu. It is called One Day.