A Heaven-Designed Jigsaw Puzzle

If you are interested in a fascinating experiment, just try this: Take a fresh sponge - not a plastic sponge, but a regular ocean sponge, which is actually a living entity, like coral - and cut it into hundreds of pieces. Then scatter all the pieces in a tank of water and leave them untouched  overnight. The next morning you will find that the pieces have reassembled themselves into the exact shape of the original intact sponge - like a spontaneously reassembled jigsaw puzzle.

No biologist or other scientist has ever found a satisfactory explanation for this remarkable phenomenon, which is called "reintergrative restoration." It seems to manifest itself in numerous other life forms inhabiting this marvel-spangled Earth. An amputated lizard's tail restores itself to its exact former dimensions, a lava field from a volcanic eruption is eventually reforested, a worm cut in half survives as twin worms, and many nearly extinct species of animals and birds become extant again, overcoming apparently insuperable obstacles. It seem that Divine providence has introjected into the flora and fauna of our planet a drive for survival that yields an inbuild dynamic of restoration. 

In this great design of restoration in nature, the Creator hasn't forgotten his favorite made-to-the-image-of-God creatures - namely humans. At the time of the Parousia - the expected second coming of Christ to Earth - humankind's ultimate physical restoration from death will occur (see John 5:29; 11:24). The Apostle's Creed refers to it as "the resurrection of the body." After that event, those still living (who will never experience death, as Paul declares in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52) will enjoy a marvelous "rapture" (1 Thessalonians 4:17) and will find themselves restored to a new and instantaneously "spiritualized" body. But between now and that end-time series of momentous events, the "reintegrative restoration" of Homo sapiens is to be found primarily in the spiritual dimension of human existence.

This excerpt is from the book The Awesome Mercy of God, by John H. Hampsch,C.M.F., originally published by Servant Books. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.