Labor Pains
Christopher Harbin
Romans 8:22-27
Topics surrounding pregnancy have been much in the news cycles these last few years. Abortion, pregnancy, maternal health, birth rates, mortality rates, prenatal care, IVF treatment, and establishing a federal registration of pregnancies have occupied the news. More often than not, women become political pawns in these discussions. I've seen little attempt to consider what it means for a woman to yearn for a child, despite how pregnancy ravages her body. It is this why which occupies Paul's comments in today's passage. What are we yearning for that we consider worth anything akin to the pain, angst, turmoil, and troubles of pregnancy and birthing? What is worth embracing these associated labor pains?
I should pause right now for a huge disclaimer. I have never experienced labor pains. This may be shocking to some, but Paul likewise had no experience of labor pains. Neither of us is an expert on labor or birthing. Most of what I know about it comes from a single look in Karen's eyes when the first "real" pain of labor suddenly hit. That momentary glance communicated a wealth of meaning, along the lines of, "Wait a minute! This is not at all what I signed up for! Can we go back and rethink this whole pregnancy thing? Help! Somebody pause this until I can re-think and process this!" Then again, Paul is not using the term in any technical sense. This is a metaphor used by an observer. It is no attempt to teach us anything about the realities of labor. It is a detached observation of a painful struggle hopefully giving way to some greatly-anticipated reality.
Labor pains are not my first go to when considering the struggle and difficulty required to bring about a new reality. They are not part of my experience of reality, and there is no way they could be. It would be more normative, perhaps, to talk about revolution, revolt, uprising, insurrection, or even a long pilgrimage. It might have been better for Paul to ...
Christopher Harbin
Romans 8:22-27
Topics surrounding pregnancy have been much in the news cycles these last few years. Abortion, pregnancy, maternal health, birth rates, mortality rates, prenatal care, IVF treatment, and establishing a federal registration of pregnancies have occupied the news. More often than not, women become political pawns in these discussions. I've seen little attempt to consider what it means for a woman to yearn for a child, despite how pregnancy ravages her body. It is this why which occupies Paul's comments in today's passage. What are we yearning for that we consider worth anything akin to the pain, angst, turmoil, and troubles of pregnancy and birthing? What is worth embracing these associated labor pains?
I should pause right now for a huge disclaimer. I have never experienced labor pains. This may be shocking to some, but Paul likewise had no experience of labor pains. Neither of us is an expert on labor or birthing. Most of what I know about it comes from a single look in Karen's eyes when the first "real" pain of labor suddenly hit. That momentary glance communicated a wealth of meaning, along the lines of, "Wait a minute! This is not at all what I signed up for! Can we go back and rethink this whole pregnancy thing? Help! Somebody pause this until I can re-think and process this!" Then again, Paul is not using the term in any technical sense. This is a metaphor used by an observer. It is no attempt to teach us anything about the realities of labor. It is a detached observation of a painful struggle hopefully giving way to some greatly-anticipated reality.
Labor pains are not my first go to when considering the struggle and difficulty required to bring about a new reality. They are not part of my experience of reality, and there is no way they could be. It would be more normative, perhaps, to talk about revolution, revolt, uprising, insurrection, or even a long pilgrimage. It might have been better for Paul to ...
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