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You can't be duplicated
There's no one else quite like you.
When I was quite young, I was momentarily unable to distinguish between my mother and her twin sister during a trip our two families took together. I still get teased about it. Since then, I've come to know and appreciate the unique qualities expressed by both my mom and my aunt. The two of them are most decidedly individual and distinct. Despite growing up in an age when identical twins were usually treated as copies of each other, they overcame that stereotype.
This experience reminds me to dig deeper than superficial, genetic similarities when pondering the nature of individuality. In the light of the attention focused on artificially creating genetic copies of animals—and potentially humans—understanding what really constitutes an individual's identity takes on even greater importance.
I feel that Christ Jesus spoke of God's infinite appreciation of and care for all God's creatures in these words: "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Luke 12:6, 7). Even apparently insignificant things have permanent identities. For something to exist, God has to conceive of it, and He never forgets what He creates. The fundamental nature of reality, then, is mental and spiritual, not physical.
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
May 18, 1998 issue
View Issue-
To Our Readers
Russ Gerber
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YOUR LETTERS
with contributions from Margaret Russo, Sandi Justad
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items of interest
with contributions from Rabbi Harold Kushner
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Life with voids or supermarket tabloids
By Channing Walker
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A SHOW BIZ BIAS IN THE NEWS
Alexandra Marks
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I was having one of those days
By Margaret Welch Dendler
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You can't be duplicated
By Eliot Dixon Glaser
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What are you entitled to?
By Harriet Barry Schupp
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Consumed by guilt?
By Margaret Rogers
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Does God still speak to us?
By Tony Lobl
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Finding a best friend
By Melinda Mason Powers
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Dear Sentinel,
Joy Tchernev
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Pain and inflammation eliminated
Pauline D. Jenner
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Newborn infant fully recovers
Richard Price with contributions from Connie Price
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Swollen gums cured
Patricia L. Duke
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Injured eye healed
Liana Zambresky
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Babies: how mature are they?
By Kerry Helen Jenkins
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Would you like to know God better?
Barbara M. Vining