Finishing Line

 

When I went into labour with my first baby, Mhairi, my mother was here and she went with Don and me to Jubilee Hospital in Huntly. At this small ‘cottage’ hospital, the midwife was delighted to have something to do, and welcomed Mom to be present at the birth of her first grandchild.

This midwife was a fierce woman, who declared I had hours to go and should go take a shower, ‘but make sure you don’t use any baby powder as it will make a mess in the shower room!’ I dutifully went to have a shower. Never mind the baby powder, though, which I had no intention of using: she should have warned me about the mess that would come when the waters broke, but that’s another story...

The midwife was sure the labour would be long. My mother assured me it would be quick, as she had delivered quickly, and assumed I would be the same.

Gratefully, Mom was right. Two hours later, she was able to prop Don up as Mhairi was born!

I am still mulling over the fantastic revelation that the tribulations and trials in current global and personal events are not death throes, but ‘the beginning of birth pangs’.

(I’m not too keen on these disasters being just ‘the beginning of birth pangs’. I know many women who laboured long and hard to have their babies, and I am sure we’d all prefer a quick delivery.)

I’ve been thinking that, whether the labour is long and slow or fast and sharp, we the Church are called to be midwives to the new Kingdom which God is bringing to birth. We are called not to be fierce but to be encouragers, the ones with positive things to say, with strengthening promises to make in order to keep hopes high and spirits strong.  As we remember Jesus’ sacrifice and love for this world and share that with those struggling with disastrous news bulletins, we encourage ourselves and others to trust in the promises of God.

We are living in the midst of a sort of divine RomCom – not always so Com, but always, always, plenty of Rom. We haven’t yet reached the climax of this love story, but we can be sure that it will be the happiest ending we can imagine.

The Lord always delivers what he promises. I am with you, he says, til the end of the age. Whether or not we are at the end of the age, we can be sure that he is with us, quietly encouraging, holding our hands, consoling and embracing and shouting us over the finishing line. Can you hear him now?