“But as it is, God placed the parts, each one of them, in the body as he intended… The eye cannot say to the hand, “I do not need you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I do not need you.” … If [one] part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy (1Corinthians 12:18-26).

The ear works together with the head, the hands, the legs and the feet to balance the body in station or in motion.

Hearing is through the ear lobes up to the inner canal ending to the tympanic membrane. Deeper, beyond this membrane is the complex of organs that maintain static and dynamic balance to the human body.

Anatomy of the Human Ear

The inner ear consists of the cochlea and the vestibular apparatus. The cochlea is responsible for hearing, as it converts sound into nerve signals. The vestibular apparatus maintains the sense of balance.

The vestibular apparatus is made up of canals, cavities, fluids, and nerves that sense the movement of the head. The brain then realigns the head, the limbs and the chest in order to shift the center of gravity, and thus, regaining balance.

On two feet barely a foot long each, smaller in size, and lighter in weight than the entire body, these body parts keep the entire body upright.

Any absence or impairment of any of these body parts could send the brain dizzying and the body collapsing to the ground.

Even if external forces try to tip the body over, the body remains upright on its two feet… Even on only one foot!

If the body bends forward or backward or sideways, like what one gyrating in a physical exercise does, the center of gravity shifts continually, keeping the body upright each time.

Inanimate balancing with pedestal

Now imagine if that body were a statue. In any lifeless statue of a human body, any deviation from an erect posture would tip that statue over. Even at erect posture, the feet are not wide enough to prevent tipping over with a slight nudge. The feet have to be anchored into a heavy pedestal to keep upright the lifeless body. The farther deviation out of vertical the posture of the statue is, the heavier the pedestal needs to be.

Live balancing on feet

Now if the human body is real, but it is asleep, meaning one of the parts is inactive, the feet alone would not be able to maintain the body upright.

Any human body that dies, falls down to the ground because all the parts of the body that form the sense of balance cease to function.

“God looked at everything he had made and found it very good” (Genesis 1:31). VSS

23 January 2022. 3rd Sunday in OT, Cycle C-2022. Nehemiah 8:1-4a, 5-6, 8-10 + 1Corointhians 12:12-30 + Luke 1:1-4; 4:14-21.

Picture credit: Ballet Dancer, by Anastasia Gepp, on pexels.com. Anatomy of the Human Ear, by… scienceabc.com. Crawling Ape vs. Erect Man, from shutterstock.com. Mount Shang statue by mountshang.blogspot.tw. Baby Walk, by babystrollerhub.com.