In a Dim Mirror

I ran across a parable on twin babies in the womb. Their debate on whether there is life after delivery sets an interesting perspective on how we see God and how little we understand. Because it’s long, I’m going to paraphrase, but to see the full reading by Therapeutic Grace click here: Based on a story published October 2009 by author Wayne Dyer, originally adapted from a story by Henri J. M. Nouwen (a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian, January 24, 1932 – September 21, 1996)

There were two babies in a mother’s womb. Baby One asks the second, “Do you believe in life after delivery?”

Baby Two says, “Of course, I think we’re here preparing for something more. Maybe there’ll be light, we’ll walk with our legs, and eat with our mouths.”

“How silly. That’s what the umbilical cord is for, and walking is impossible,” said Baby One.

“What if we won’t need this cord anymore?”

“That’s illogical, and if there was life after delivery, why hasn’t anyone returned from there to tell about it? After delivery, there is only darkness, silence, and oblivion. It’s the end.”

“I think we’ll meet mother, and she’ll take care of us.”

Baby One laughed. “You believe in Mother? If Mother exists, where is she now?”

“I think she’s all around us,” said Baby Two. “We are of her. She created us, and in her, we live. Without her, this world wouldn’t exist.”

“Well, I can’t see her,” said Baby One, “so it’s only logical that she doesn’t exist.”

Baby Two’s voice lowered to a reverent whisper, “But sometimes in the silence when I really listen, I can feel her presence and hear her loving voice calling from above.”

The powerful analogy demonstrates how silly arguments against a creator must sound to God and His angels. My Sunday school teacher once held up an embroidered cloth showing us the backside instead of the front. We could make out that there were letters and a picture, but the tangled mass of strings and knots, as seen from our backside perspective, kept us from reading the words or understanding the full picture. 1 Corinthians 13:12 states, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”

In this life, we are like babies in a womb. Compared to nine months, a life span would seem like an eternity, but the Bible says a man's life is just a breath (Psalm 144:4). God is preparing us and developing our character for everything that is in store for us in heaven. Things that seem impossible from our limited view here on Earth will be possible. Things we can’t fathom will happen.

We’ll be with our Creator who loves us with an immeasurable, profound love, and He will delight in our coming home and we will run into His welcoming arms.