In mother’s womb were two highly intelligent babies. One asked the other:
“Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. I think we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be anyway?”
The second said, “I don’t know, but I’m hoping there will be more light than in here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths like mother does.”
The first replied, “Preposterous! Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! This cord supplies everything we need. We don’t need anything else. Therefore life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”
The second insisted, “Well clearly there is something and it’s different from in here. Maybe we won’t have need of this cord anymore.”
The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life. In the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness, silence, and oblivion. It avails nothing.”
“Hogwash!” said the second, “We will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”
The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is she now, huh?”
The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of her. It is in her that we live. Without her we would not and could not exist.”
Said the first: “Well I don’t see her, so it is only logical that she doesn’t exist.”
To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive her presence, and you can hear her loving voice, calling down from above. Besides, where do you think all that sloshing around is coming from?”
The first laughed, “I’ll believe it when I see it. Then we’ll just see who’s right, won’t we.”
The second concluded, “Well, just remember, you asked and I delivered. Or was that Mom?”
Jim
For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13
Fun fact: Did you know that the sex (male or female) of a fetus is determined at conception by the combination of X and Y sex chromosomes a baby receives from the egg and the sperm? Consider this the next time the subject of person hood rears its head.
Your article presents an excellent analogy. Thank you.