More than a couple years ago I worked at a non-profit organization in Virginia. I had been there for a year and a half when my boss' wife and the wife of another co-worker went into labor on the same day. The same day, in the same hospital both of these ladies began a tortuous process of delivering their babies with a singular difference: Neil's wife was doing so with the knowledge that her baby was not healthy. Only a few hours before being admitted the doctors realized that Neil's baby girl was in critical condition. Forgive me for not remembering the details (such as Neil's wife's name)... this was years ago and I was close to this couple neither before, during, nor after the birth of their child. David's wife Julie, by contrast, had carried her child to term perfectly and delivered a marvelously well-formed baby boy. The progeny entered our world only several hours apart and after a few prayer-filled, tear-stained days Neil's daughter grew stronger until she was out of danger. Together we celebrated the providential healing of one child, but almost simultaneously we found that Dave's son, Caden was not altogether well. He was taken to the hospital where it was learned (over the course of several days) that he had swelling on his brain that only a permanent shunt would alleviate the pressure and allow him to develop. I remember being captivated by the range of emotions in both sets of parents, and us - their community as we suffered and rejoiced, alternately, with all of them.
I remember this because last night, two babies were being born mere hours apart... Daniel and Charlene brought Emogen to us while Brian and Dora were busy birthing their child. Charlene was released from the hospital this evening, but Dora was in danger for some hours while doctors addressed her precariously low blood-pressure. Two children, starting life under vastly different circumstances, hold all the promise of hope in their tiny hands.
I know I've been curiously devoid of humor these days, but forgive me please - sometimes life seems to bring these serious circumstances about and I'm apt to put aside mirth in favor of considering the chain of events. I certainly can't say what any of it means, I just believe more and more that we must be correlated to something beyond ourselves; that our God, our Yahweh, our "Other" exists not simply to provide some confidence of intersubjectivity, but to give us a tangible fragment of eternity that we cling to together.
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