A friend emailed a short devotion some years ago and it has never really left me alone since. It may be an old one, some may have read or heard it before but for those who haven't, the main theme revolves around twins still in the womb.
It has proven to be a wonderful little story for children's ministry and like many children's stories, there's a kick for adults too.
One baby asked the other: "Do you believe in life after delivery?"
"Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery," the baby said.
"Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later."
Nonsense
"Nonsense" said the first.
"There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?"
There was a period of quietness while the second baby thought about it.
"I don't know, but there will be more light than here," the second baby said.
"Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths.
"Maybe we will have other senses that we can't understand now."
We can't break the umbilical cord
"What an absurd thing to say," the first baby said.
"Walking on these legs? It's impossible. And eating with our mouths? Don't be ridiculous!
"The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need.
"And ..... the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded."
The second insisted.
"Well I think there is something and maybe it's different than it is here," the second baby said.
"Maybe we won't need this physical cord anymore."
"Nonsense. And moreover if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there?""Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion.
"It takes us nowhere."
Mother
"Well, I don't know," said the second.
"There has to be some reason for delivery. The certainty is, we will meet Mother and she will take care of us."
"Mother? You actually believe in Mother?" the first baby recanted.
"That's laughable. If Mother exists then where is she now?"
We are surrounded – sound familiar?
The second said, "She is all around us. We are surrounded by her.
"We are of Her. It is in Her we live.
"Without Her this world would not and could not exist."
"Well I don't see Her, so it is only logical, She doesn't exist," said the first baby.
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."
John Skinner served in Vietnam, then the Tasmanian Police before taking up the position of CEO of the Australian Rough Riders Association (professional rodeo in Warwick Qld). Before retirement to his farm, he was a photo-journalist for 25 years. He is married with three married adult children and six grandchildren. He is still involved in children's ministry at Warwick Baptist Church 35 years on.
John Skinner's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/john-skinner.html