An Internal Clock You Can Feel

Acts 17:25
“Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things…”

We all have a number of clocks within us that help keep life constant in changing surroundings. The pineal gland is one clock that helps us adjust to our surroundings like the changing lengths of daylight through the year.

Earlier in this century, many scientists, having no understanding of the pineal, decided that it had no purpose and was left over as a vestige from our evolution. Creationists knew it must have a purpose because they knew we have not evolved.

If you are one of those people who typically feel a bit more lethargic or even depressed during the darkest months of winter, you might be able to blame your pineal, which is located near the center of your brain. How can a gland deep in the center of the brain know how long the days are? Light causes our bodies to make certain chemicals. When days are short, those chemicals are scarce, so the pineal cannot make from these chemicals the hormones that encourage the alertness we feel in the spring and summer. In addition, your pineal has a private nerve hookup to your eyes, so it can literally see for itself how much light is available! Scientists have found that adding artificial light during winter can sometimes help the winter blues.

Our bodies are a network of complex control systems and chemical factories – a complex union of systems that go beyond the abilities of the best human designers, but which testify to the wisdom of the Creator!

Prayer:
Dear Father, if I had to design and build my own body, I would never have walked this Earth. Help me to remember that just as You have given me this material life, so I must also look to You alone for eternal life, which You give me through the forgiveness of sins, earned on the cross for me by Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Notes:
Fellman, Bruce. 1985. “A clockwork gland.” Science 85, May. p. 77. Picture: Pituitary and pineal glands. (PD)