In Utero

Armodoxy for Today: In Utero

In the days following the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to many different people. For the most part they were his followers who saw him, and non-believers greeted the news with skepticism, neither believing the Resurrection nor the idea that there was life beyond the grave.

Much hasn’t changed in the two millennia since the Resurrection.

A week ago I came across a short parable which I’d like to share with you. I found a few different versions of the parable, a couple of the earlier drafts are by Henri J.W. Nouwen, Pablo Molinero and this particular version I found on Juli Conard’s blog.

The Parable of the Twins

In a mother’s womb were two babies.  As the twins developed, their awareness grew and they laughed for joy, “Isn’t it great to be alive?”

The first baby asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”

The second baby replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery.  Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”

“Nonsense,” said the first. “There is no life after delivery.  What would that life be?”

“I don’t know, but there might be more light than here.  Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat with our mouths.” 

The doubting baby laughed. “This is absurd!  Walking is impossible.  And eating with our mouths?  Ridiculous.  The umbilical cord supplies nutrition.  Life after delivery is impossible; the umbilical cord is too short.”

The second baby held his ground. “I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here.”

The first baby replied, “No one has ever come back from there.  Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery it is nothing but darkness and anxiety and it takes us nowhere.”

“Well, I don’t know,” said the twin, “but certainly we will see mother and she will take care of us.”

“Mother?” The first baby laughed. “You believe in mother?  Where is she now?” 

The second baby calmly and patiently tried to explain. “She is all around us.  It is in her that we live. Without her, there would not be this world that we know.”

“Ha. I don’t see her, so it’s only logical that she doesn’t exist.”  

To which the other replied, “Sometimes when you’re in silence you can hear her, you can perceive her.  I believe there is a reality after delivery and we are here to prepare ourselves for that reality when it comes….”

As the weeks stretched into months the twins noticed how much each was changing.

“What do you think all this change means?” asked the first baby.

“It means that our stay in this world is drawing to an end,” said the second.

“But I don’t want to go,” said the first “I want to stay right here always.”

“We have no choice,” said the second, “but maybe there is life after birth!”

“But how can it be?” responded the one. “We will shed our life cord, and how is life possible without it? Besides, we have seen evidence that others were here before us and none of them have returned to tell us that there is life after birth.”

And so, the one fell into deep despair saying, “If conception ends with birth, what is the purpose of life in the womb? It is meaningless! Maybe there is no mother at all.”

“But there has to be,” protested the second baby. “How else did we get here? How do we remain alive?”

“Have you ever seen our mother?” said the one. “Maybe she lives in our minds. Maybe we made her up because the idea made us feel good.”

Thus, while one raved and despaired, the other resigned himself to birth. He placed his trust in the mother.

Hours passed into days and days fell into weeks, and it came time. And both knew that their birth was at hand. And both feared what they did not know.

And as the one was the first to be conceived, so he was the first to be born. The other followed after. And they cried as they were born out into the light. They coughed up fluid, and they gasped the dry air; and when they were sure that they had been born, they opened up their eyes and they found themselves cradled in the warm love of the mother. They lay open-mouthed, awestruck at the beauty of the mother whom they had never seen before.”