RUMORS OF ANOTHER WORLD

Millions of people in the United States, Europe and Asia have viewed a mysterious and remarkable exhibition known as Body Worlds. Our daughter visited this exhibit in 2009 at the Maryland Science Center. 

Through a process called plastination, which involves injecting plastic resin into the body’s cells, the bodies have been preserved with almost no decomposition at all, allowing an all access view into what your muscles, organs, and tendons really look like. 

The bodies on display are real – these are no plaster molds like the dinosaurs you see – these are actual human bodies which have been donated to science for such an educational purpose. Believe it or not, there are currently thousands of prospective donors on the waiting list, who have volunterily signed over their bodies for this exhibit. 

During his visit to Body Worlds in London, Philip Yancey shares observations in the first chapter of his book "RUMORS OF ANOTHER WORLD". Yancey's descriptions are fascinating, not only of the sixty preserved bodies, but also his comments about the people observing the bodies. He starts chapter one with this quote by Albert Einstein:

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: 

his eyes are closed. 

Yancey believes we are missing the supernatural hidden in everyday life. In typical Yancey fashion, he grapples with why God made the world and what our role truly is, and seeks to answer the question, “How do I live in the natural world while expressing the values of the supernatural?” Philip challenges us to tune into rumors of another world, and connect the seen with the unseen. 

He ends chapter one with a quote from T.S. Eliot.

"Endless invention endless experiment,

Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness...

Where is the Life we have lost in living?

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?"

This is one of my favorite Yancey books, but then, all of his books are my favorite. 

Speaking of favorites, you can click HERE to view one of my favorite TED TALKS called "Hidden Miracles of our Natural World"

You can click HERE to view the website for Body Worlds.

You can click HERE to view Yancy discussing this book at The University of California. (2005)