Life is a miracle

By Abi F. May

Easter is the celebration of an event that is beyond comprehension. A body was brutally whipped, nailed to a cross, and hoisted aloft to die an excruciating and shameful death, then pierced with a spear before being taken down from the cross and wrapped tightly in grave clothes, and laid in a tomb. Three days later, that same body was once more living, breathing, walking, talking.

There is another miracle beyond my comprehension, one that takes place daily. A sperm joins with an egg to form a single cell, smaller than a grain of salt. This one cell contains the complex genetic blueprint for every detail of human development, including the child’s gender, hair and eye color, height, skin tone, and much more.

Within four days, the fertilized egg has traveled into the womb.

At three weeks, the foundations of the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system are established, and the heart begins to beat.

At one month, arms, legs, eyes, and ears have begun to show. The heart is pumping blood through the circulatory system.

By six weeks, the rapidly developing brain begins to control movement of muscles and organs.

At week nine, the developing life is now called a “fetus”—Latin for “young one.”

At three months, the baby is perfectly formed. He has fingernails and toenails, and he can raise his eyebrows, wrinkle his forehead, and turn his head.

At 16 weeks, the baby is a little over one third the size he will be at birth.

At five months, the baby’s hair, eyelashes, and nails are growing.

The rest of the time in the womb will be spent in preparation for birth, which is usually at 40 weeks, although nowadays babies born at even as little as 22 weeks have a chance of survival.

Finally comes the grand exit from the security of the womb into the world. All of the possibilities, pleasures, and pains that life brings have begun for yet another human being.

How can a single cell grow into a fully formed baby in nine months? The process can be observed, but I can no more comprehend the spark that drives that process than I can comprehend the miraculous resurrection of Jesus.

But we don’t have to understand. We can simply rejoice in the wonderful gift of life that the Creator has bestowed upon us—life here in this world, and eternal life in the world beyond! •