Five Hearts Beating
by Ted Slater on 12/03/2007 at 3:05 PM
When I go to bed tonight, my house will be home to five pulsing hearts. My two sleeping daughters will be in the rooms adjacent to mine, their little hearts pattering as they have for a few years now. And next to me will be my wife, her heart continuing a rhythm that began nearly three decades ago.
And then there's that new heartbeat I've been sensing in our home. While I've yet to hear it, I know it's there, ensuring that life-giving blood continues to flow throughout my developing child's peanut-sized body.
Scripture equates blood with life (see Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:11, Leviticus 17:14 and Deuteronomy 12:23). Breathing enables blood to do its thing, transmitting oxygen (among other things) where it's needed, and so breathing is also associated with life (see Genesis 1:30, 2:7, 6:17, 7:15 and 7:22). For now, the new life next to me is relying on my wife to do the breathing. In some eight months that litte life will take the first breath of her own.
I was stunned to learn some time ago that a baby's heart begins pumping a mere three weeks after conception. Before my wife was even aware of it, a nearly inaudible rhythm was keeping time with her own heart.
Something new has come to life in the Slater home. There were but four hearts keeping a familial beat. But the syncopation was not sufficiently complex. So now there are five. And I'm finding the rising sound of life to be delightful.
1. xeres said the following at 3:07 PM on Dec 3:
Congrats! This is so moving. God is creative :D
2. Jeremy said the following at 3:28 PM on Dec 3:
Congratulations!
One word of warning though (since this post seems vaguely aimed towards the abortion debate), let's not get confused with the simplification in terminology that is often applied, "When does life begin?" No one is arguing that a fetus is not living tissue, that is really not the issue (the presence or absence of a soul is). So though blood, heartbeats, etc. may be comforting to those who oppose abortion, they are not really relevant in the debate itself.
3. brx said the following at 4:47 PM on Dec 3:
Recently in a college group, we were discussing Rob Bell's "Breathe" (short film of the Nooma series). In it, Rob explains how the Hebrew name of the LORD told to Moses is similar to the Hebrew word used for breath-of-life, and the nearly unpronounceable sound of breathing. Pretty neat how God connects the physical and spiritual, I think - like life and blood and God and breathing.
The following weekend, an amazing and very contemplative film - "Baraka" (1992) was playing at an international film fest. Reading the description for the film, it mentioned "Baraka is an ancient Sufi word, which can be translated as "a blessing, or as the breath, or essence of life..." It brings up some important things that often go unnoticed... like breathing and our connection to God.
Grace & peace.
4. Elizabeth said the following at 6:21 PM on Dec 3:
Congrats!!
5. Bethany said the following at 6:53 PM on Dec 3:
Congratulations!
What a lovely way of expressing the beauty of new life.
6. Kate M said the following at 8:12 PM on Dec 3:
Congratulations, Ted!!! That is so beautiful. Prayers for a happy, healthy pregnancy for your wife and baby.
Jeremy, the presence or absence of a soul is totally irrelevant to the abortion debate. Even materialists can hold that abortion is wrong because it is killing a tiny being with a biologically human nature.
And "living tissue" - please, an embryo is not a piece of skin! The human body is an awesome creation. Even if a human embryo doesn't have a soul, don't you think their body deserves respect and love?
7. Ted Slater said the following at 9:07 PM on Dec 3:
Thanks, y'all! I was wife-less for 36 years, and to be honest didn't think much about kids during my single years. But now that I've had two daughters (both toddlers now) I see how they enrich life. I love my children fiercely. They've enlarged my heart.
BRX -- I saw Baraka in the theater (yes, the editor of Boundless visits independent theaters), and later rented it to watch at home. It's a pretty cool movie, but quite cynical. Some of the images still trouble me....
Speaking of cynical, let me address the thoughtless comment that implies that a pre-born life has no species associated with it, or that it has no meaningful life associated with it. Other than to note that John (who became John the Baptist) leaped in his mother's womb when he was near the pregnant-with-Jesus Mary. Let's do the math. Jesus was six months younger than John, and yet the fetal John leaped in joy at the encounter with the perhaps merely embryonic Jesus (read Luke 1 for the entire story). This biblical account tells me that personhood is associated with even pre-"viable" pre-born life. I wonder when some people think the spirit of a person enters that person's body. At 171 days? At 209 days? At birth? At the "age of accountability"? Or perhaps when that life begins?
I don't mean to be overly harsh, Jeremy. it's just that I've come to cherish life in a fresh way now that I've brought three of them into being.
8. Laura said the following at 10:33 PM on Dec 3:
Jeremy, a wise man knows when to speak, and when to remain silent.
Ted, many congratulations. May the Lord bless your open arms with a child who grows up to love Him first and best.
9. Kristen said the following at 7:03 AM on Dec 4:
Congratulations on your growing family, Ted!!
10. Carrie said the following at 7:21 AM on Dec 4:
Congratulations to the Slaters!
As several of my friends have become pregnant over the last several years, I becoming increasingly awed with the whole creation process. It is indeed a wonderful thing.
11. Angela said the following at 10:04 AM on Dec 4:
Beautifully poetic and very true! Congratulations.
12. Charles H. said the following at 12:18 PM on Dec 4:
The description of an unborn baby as "tissue" gives away Jeremy's views on abortion, but as a physician I must respectfully disagree with him, both medically and theologically. Medically, he appears to claim that a baby's location determines his personhood; theologically, he appears to claim that we are soulless beings until birth. This interesting combination is tantamount to saying that we can force God to imbue a baby with a soul by performing a caesarean section, which is a rather bizarre idea.
13. farmer Tom said the following at 10:00 PM on Dec 4:
Congratulations!!
As the father of 4 it never ceases to amaze me that I am responsible for their existence as well as their survival. They would not exist apart from God's provision and the physical relationship of my wife and I. And that puts a tremendous burden of responsibility on me as their father. To protect them, train them and provide for their needs. Ain't it fun???
As to Jeremy's comments about life, well just one thing. Jeremy, who do you think the right to life in the Constitution applies to?? Serious question!! Who does the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness apply to???
Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings. Ratified 12/15/1791.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury,....... nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived (deprive v. 1. To take something away from; divest. 2. To keep from the possession of something.) of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;........
I bet you answered no person, right? And that's a reasonable answer, put you forgot to read that part that 99% of the public has never read. It's called the preamble.
Preamble
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, (posterity n. 1. Future generations. 2. All of a person's descendants.) do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.)
According to the Constitution of the United States of America, all human beings , even those not yet conceived,(our posterity) have the right to life, liberty and property.
14. DT said the following at 7:43 AM on Dec 7:
I just gave birth to my first baby last week, so I'm slowly catching up on blogs. This made me cry! Hello, hormones! Congratulations to you all, and what a beautiful way to announce it!
15. Jennifer Napier said the following at 10:37 AM on Dec 12:
Ted- Congratulations! We are so excited for you. We're praying blessings and peace on your home and on A. in particular. Children are a gift from the Lord...you guys are rich!
Jennifer N.