He created us in the womb

I have been at a conference the last two days entitled, "His brain-her brain" and it has been very interesting. It was made even more so because my wife, Lori, is here too. Lori is a pharmacist and she understands all the medical jargon. When the instructor talks about the hippo campus and the hypothalamus Lori knows exactly what she is speaking about.

I've always liked the biological sciences and wished that I had paid more attention to them when I was growing up. I have a broad knowledge but nothing very deep. I lit up whenever they began discussing the way men and women handle different situations. Although there were broad generalities, it rang of the truth.

The most amazing thing about this conference was the fact the instructor was able to show how many of our typical responses to situations seemed to be hard wired into our male and female brains. She pointed out that this had nothing to do with intelligence, although boys learn mathematics and spatial orientation earlier and girls pick up vocabulary and emotional cues earlier. On the whole intelligence is equal for the sexes.

She went on to tell us things like women have twice as many pain receptors as men and that the release of testosterone in utero actually begins to change the embryo as early as six weeks to mark that child as a male with many of the differences that will appear later in life.

Now don't hold me on the exact details of all this. The one thing I came away with was the fact that we are created uniquely and with so much detail that it is mind boggling. How can anyone deny the existence of a divine creator. This stuff doesn't happen by accident. The instructor kept saying that these biological differences prepared us to survive in a hostile environment. They designed us to cling together to make a more perfect whole.

Mind you, this seminar was put on by a scientific group, not a theological school or religious group. Who says God doesn't reveal himself in nature? All you need to do is open your eyes and you can see his hand at work.

Cal