Life: It is the experience of every living creature; to engage in the wonders of our world, marvel at the mastery of her beauty and recognize her determined promise to procreate.

Life and growth reproduction are fascinating processes. And with the help of science, we can gain perspective on the development of all living things: plants, animals and humans.

In the photo above, taken by Ron Dicker on Jan. 2, 2013, we see a C-section taking place. And in the midst of the surgery, the baby, a little boy, reached out with his tiny hand and grasped the finger of the doctor.

Life in the womb is always felt when a woman is pregnant. At about three months, the mother begins to experience, her child's bodily movements: of hands moving, feet kicking, body rolling, and the infant pushing against the uterine wall.

Below is an excerpt from the book, titled, The Smell of Rain on Dust, by Martin Pretchel. He describes beautifully, the relationship between the mother and the infant in utero. The author uses the feminine description for the infant, but please feel free to choose a masculine gender term, for yourself, or mothers who have sons.

"Her world was beautiful. Every day, for 270 days, she drifted along continuously, held in the luxury of the water womb. She could move about freely, knowing everything she needed was provided for by the Mother, whose rhythmic heartbeat she followed with her own throbbing pulse, creating a harmony of cadence. And like two whales in love, their movement was a tandem dance of hope, much larger than the sum of the rhythmic parts. It was their dance and their song. The very first.

This song, echoed in her new ears, and in the water in her body and her bones. A never-ending fugue of togetherness, the sound continued to grow and amplify. And as she grew, this sound remained the back-beat melody for her formation inside the palatial home of the universe of her mother’s womb.

As she felt herself developing gradually, the Mother’s pulse still provided everything her body needed, including the instructions about becoming a person, and how to live according to the mutual music they were making, that music she felt running through her. And while her heart began to pulse to the drum of her own individuality, the Mother’s life-giving breath still continued for them both.

What was created between the two of them, (which you may have to read at least two or three times over to comprehend) including the rhythmic flow of the Mother’s breath and rushing heartbeat along with her other, second, rushing heartbeat, was a life-giving symphonic-jazz opposition where, the more than double rhythm of every organ and function, was playing the top lines in between. That meant that the Mother, and she were no longer in unison, yet they still played in syncopated opposition, still supporting life’s dance with its back and forth motion, and attending to the diligent developmental task of true person-hood, that of maintaining one’s own syncopation against overriding rhythms.

And here, in this “groove” where her little heart beats at a rate of ten beats per second next to the Mother’s sixty-eight beats a minute, she is unaware that there is anything else beyond this wonderful water world. The life she lives here is an entire life-time, existing in a water consciousness, apart from sequential or lineal time frames, yet existing in an all-time-all-at-once happening. And in this world, she exists in a time never previously existed, along with time that is now, and will continue. It is life in a world where no else has awareness except her, where she lives a magical existence inside the cosmos of womb time.

But then, one day, everything began to change. The water of her world begins to drain, and she loses contact with the Mother’s heartbeat, creating a sense of loss for the sound she loved and depended on as an audial signpost. Additionally, she feels her head being pushed farther and permanently away from the sound of the Mother’s heartbeat. Then, she experiences the brightness of this new world but is unable to see because her eyes are foggy. It’s cold, too, compared to the warm water world.

But, there are warm hands waiting to welcome her and comfort her. For out of the water world, she cannot float and move freely, but is at the mercy of something she will learn to know as gravity.  She feels the stress. It is noisy too, and she now has to breathe for herself. Her little belly feels a gnawing of hunger for food. But, soon, she tastes the Mother’s milk and feels its warmth as it fills her belly. And as she suckles, she can feel the Mother’s heartbeat that she loves.

Of all that she has experienced in leaving the water womb, that which has affected her most deeply is the LOSS of the ever-present comfort of the Mother’s heart-beat. She now is rhythmically left alone, while trying to breathe, and the only heart-beat she hears is her own tiny courageous heart galloping home by itself.

And this loss of the Mother’s heartbeat and the womb experience is so great, that it is what causes her, with the very first inhalation of her lungs, to instinctively sing out her grief, in glorious musicality, with her first exhale. And from the very start she cries hard, not complaining or expressing rage for not having things stay the same, but in a sorrowful, musical wail, tiny and beautiful, that calls, “Mother, where are you? Where am I? I am cold and alone and here without the sound of your heartbeat.” And it is called a grief poem, a song, and a most profound form of praise."

Recently, I read an article online, contrasting debated opinions between lawmakers regarding abortion. Their effort to seek an established time frame for which an infant's life could be terminated, and removed from the mother's heartbeat and breath, seems unfathomable.

Bids on one side lobbied for, "viability", outside the womb, which is generally recognized as 23 - 24 weeks of pregnancy. Planned Parenthood stated the overruling Roe "would cause grave harm," because of reasons "some people are unable to obtain an abortion earlier than 15 weeks."

How is it that we have turned away, from ourselves, our souls, our conscience and spirit, to the degree that socio/political ideologies of polyamorous relationships and subsumed subsidized abortions, have contributed to the erosion of the moral fabric of our culture. And how is it, that we are not able to see, our lives, hearts, minds, bodies, souls, and spirits are being misled by a pied piper, and away from the One who has made us?

In a stark contrast, the state of Maine has implemented stringent laws regarding protecting their unborn ... lobsters.

When the eggs of a female lobster, are released, they stick on the tail of the swimmerets, averaging a total of 6,000 to 100,000 eggs. Possessing or taking away lobsters that is bearing eggs will result in a fine of $1000 for every violation, including a $200 fine for every lobster bearing eggs you have, up to the first five. Above five, each lobster attracts a $400 fine, and if you have so many egg bearing lobsters, the fine is a minimum of $2500 and can be above $10,000.

Removing eggs is also illegal, attracting $1,000 for each violation and another $300 for any involved lobster.

Perhaps as humans, we could learn from the state of Maine about valuing and protecting our unborn children ..... as much a Maine values and protects it's unborn ... lobsters.

May we value the gift of life. May we love the connection of children growing in the mother's womb remind us of the love and connection we remember ... and still need.

For the Many Sides of Life,
PJ

• credit: photo of baby reaching for Dr.'s finger: Ron Dicker 1/02/13.
• Sculpture of mother and baby/ Birth Course.com https://lobsteranywhere.com/seafood-savvy/maine-lobster-laws/
• Center for Mississippi Abortion case. Here's Why. by Ariana Eunjung Cha, Rachel Roubein
• The Supreme Court refused just before midnight on Wednesday to block a Texas law prohibiting most abortions, less than a day after it took effect and became the most restrictive abortion measure in the nation. By Adam Liptak, J. David Goodman and Sabrina Tavernise Updated Nov. 1, 2021
• The thoughts and intentions expressed in this article are those belonging to P J and do not necessarily reflect those of any other individual or professional.