Labor of Love
I often get the question ”Are you ready for the baby?” This is a loaded question. For me there are three areas of preparedness before my babies come. The home needs to be ready–not only baby stuff put out again, but all the preparations for Therese, Fulton, Adam and life when we get home. Then there is the physical preparedness–keeping up with excercise and practicing our contractions and relaxation techniques to prepare for labor.
Finally and probably most importantly is the spiritual preparedness. Because we choose to have natural births–even at the hospital–the whole laboring process is one that requires I be in the right frame of mind for the pain and suffering involved in my labor of love.
Having been pregnant during and/or through Advent the last two pregnancies, I often view birth of our children through the biblical references of death/resurrection. Like the wise virgins awaiting the bridegroom (Mat 25: 1-4), I must make sure we’re prepared for the great gift our Lord has to offer. We know not the hour or the day (Mat 25:5) when the baby will arrive. And like a thief in the night, our baby is stolen from the security of the womb to be born to this world and the loving embrace of our arms.
Women have babies all the time, and I don’t hear any deep theological views on suffering and childbirth. Yet, I have always been drawn to the fact that this pain during childbirth was given by God himself to Eve after the fall in the garden. Why? Was is to show her to love even through suffering? And why has it become unthinkable in today’s world to escape that suffering of childbirth? (This is not to say that women who choose medication or scheduled c-sections do not endure their own pain and suffering. For I know they have their own challenges.)
Until this morning, I thought I was overreacting to my need to be spiritually prepared for my suffering–especially for an event that is so blessed. But then I remembered that even our Blessed Lord went through his own anticipation of suffering (even though he knew, since he’s God, that the resurrection would also come). He went off and prayed in the garden of Gethsemane with his most trusted friends. His meditation on his suffering and embracing the Father’s will for the salvation of mankind was so great he sweat blood.
When I was pregnant with Therese, Jeff Cavin’s tape series called “The Mystery of Suffering” came across our path. It has since become my “pep talk” for each pregnancy. Cavin’s reminds us that our suffering is our opportunity to participate in the salvation and redemption of souls. So with my most trusted friend and companion, my beloved husband, we pray and come up with the list of souls and intentions for which I can offer my suffering during labor. If you would like us to add you and your intentions to that list, please email me.