What are the things that you do to “be you?” We try to set ourselves apart using all sorts of approaches such as style, success, tastes, beliefs, identity, etc. We want to be special. But then … we also want to fit in. We like to peg teenagers for this, but we all want to simultaneously stand out and fit it. We want to be admired and accepted. And we put a lot of effort into making ourselves unique.
Mark Rober recently posted a video on his YouTube channel called “How to Escape a Police Sniffing Dog.” In it, he did all kinds of fun hide-and-seek-type experiments with a search and rescue dog named Zinka and her trainer, Shay. I definitely recommend watching the whole video because it is intriguing and entertaining.
In one of the experiments, they rubbed a paper towel on the arms of twelve different people, then had only one of those twelve go hide somewhere in the lab (his lab is basically a giant clubhouse, so there are many nooks and crannies to hide in). Zinka smelled the paper towel, smelled the other eleven people still standing there, and identified which scent was missing. She then went and sniffed out the missing person. It was incredible!
Mark Rober, who is an engineer and scientist, naturally questioned how in the world a dog is able to identify people so accurately from a scent, especially when it is mixed with so many other scents. He initially theorizes that it is our unique DNA molecules found on the skin that Zinka was recognizing. So he tested this by bringing in identical twins, since they would have matching DNA. They rubbed a paper towel on the arm of only one twin and had her hide. Then they had the other twin sit in plain sight along the trail of the missing twin. Zinka passed by the incorrect twin without hesitation and followed the scent trail of the other one, successfully finding the correct twin. This test suggested to Mark Rober that the dog is not using DNA but rather picking up on a complex scent comprised of “unique chemical compounds.”
A complex of unique chemical compounds … aka, scientific evidence that you are, in fact, pretty unique. This means that the missing one out of the group of twelve, each of those twins, Mark Rober, you and everyone else in the world has a totally and completely unique smell. Out of the 8 billion plus people in the world (8,053,673,804 and counting …) there is no one exactly like you.
Even more incredibly, because scent is almost irrevocably tied to the retrieval of personal memories, one’s aromatic fingerprint undergirds relationships. To be with someone is to simultaneously recall past experiences with that person. Though the skeptic may be inclined to attribute such biological wizardry to evolutionary need, I find myself marveling at the wonder of God’s creativity.
The band Half Alive has a song called “Nobody” and throughout the chorus it repeats the lyric, “It’s hard to be someone, and it hurts to be nobody.” Trying to make ourselves somebody, we either succeed and have the pressure of keeping up appearances and continuing to impress everyone, or we end up feeling like a nobody. If you picture a huge concert arena, many people would assume that those on the stage are the lucky ones, but the pressure to perform and earn the admiration of the thousands in the crowd is hard. Or perhaps many of those facing the stage feel lost in the sea of people, like no one sees them. As another line in the song says, “Playing this game, it’s easy to lose both ways.”
Fortunately for Half Alive and the rest of us trying to prove our worth to the world, you already are somebody. You, you specifically, are findable by a dog, so you can guarantee that the designer of you (and the designer of the incredible dog who can find you!) sees you, finds you, and loves you. To him, we all smell different. Without having to make yourself anything, you are somebody to the God of the universe. He sees you (and smells you!) and he loves you the way you are, the person he made you to be.
Going back to the idea of us wanting to both stand out and fit in: we can easily think of those as conflicting ideals that we can never satisfy, but having those two desires actually makes complete sense in the way God designed us. We are unique individuals who also need each other. We find comfort in community and comfort in knowing that we can be found within that community. And why are you findable by both a dog and by God? Is it due to all of the effort you put in to make yourself stand out and be unique? No. It is simply because, you stink.
