The Miracle of Birth

As I drove back from the gym this morning it occurred to me that the "miracle of birth" which we tend to take for granted in our culture can be risky business.

In the nearly four years I have been here at St. Paul's several mothers have undergone Caesarian sections to give birth and some of them have been hospitalized or "house-bound" for periods before delivery.

Others have agonized over fertility issues or waited with both anxiety and anticipation for news about adoption.

I have stood in the nursery at the hospital looking in wonder at "premies" who were so tiny it's hard to imagine they could live in this world. My truly heart-breaking moment was conducting a funeral for infant twins who did not make it to full term and were too fragile to survive.

I thank God that every mother has lived. If you take a walk through older cemeteries and read gravestones you will realize that this was not the case a hundred years ago.

Jesus invited Nicodemus to be "born again," a phrase used to speak of spiritual transformation and renewal. Birth is a miracle, but neither physical or spiritual birth comes easily.