Life is good — no matter how long it lasts

“An explosion of tiny sparks erupts from the egg at the moment of conception.” The UK’s Telegraph reported on April 26, 2016 of Northwestern University researchers’ exciting discovery in humans (already seen in animals). The tiny spark is caused from a surge of calcium that triggers the release of zinc, which controls the decision to grow. As the zinc shoots out, it emits fluorescence picked up by microscopic cameras — a Tiny Bang of creation.

While we all begin this way, the time of our ending is unknown. Psalms has many verses about the length of life, calling it a wisp, a breath, a sigh, a flower. But we do know that God our creator, who is Love, is there with us at that ending time as well. “I give them eternal life. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)

This Mother’s Day I am glad to be alive. Thanks to the wisdom and quick thinking of doctors and nurses at our Mat-Su hospital, I’m able today to sit on my sofa with a cup of tea and read to my young children while listening to tales of Shakespearean essays, college finals, and boot camp preparedness from my older children. Two weeks ago, after a frightening ambulance ride, I learned that my lightheadedness and pain was due to a new baby growing in the wrong place and that I needed surgery immediately. My broken parts were removed and the rest of me was tucked back into place. Since I lost so much blood, I was told to sleep as much as possible (Which was unavoidable anyway; the exhaustion was pronounced and not to be ignored).

Many mothers came alongside us, helping me to mother my family by providing good suppers for us while I slept. One brought chocolate. And so I heal.

This precious one sparked, then died soon after. I’m very sorry that we did not know and could not celebrate his little life. We honor him now with our tears and love. His soul is with God. He knows Jesus and us. If Israelite mothers could sing the psalms in their pain, so can I.

“Oh Lord you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful; I know that full well. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139: 1,2,14,16)

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:1,4)

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:1-3)

A friend brought me a publication commemorating Queen Elizabeth’s 90th birthday (her husband, Prince Philip, is 94!). The juxtaposition is striking – reading of a great lady’s long life while recuperating from the death of an unknown, short life and while grateful for my own gift of more life. Each of us sparked when our lives began. Each of us will one day return to our Maker, maybe after four weeks, maybe after 40 years, maybe after 90 years. At the Big Bang of the creation of the universe and at the Tiny Bang of the creation of new life, God says that it is good. For however long, it is very good.

At every Mass, we recite the Nicene Creed, adopted in A.D. 325. Interestingly, this is even before the canon of the New Testament was settled. What a solid reminder and comfort to hear hundreds of people strongly speak out these Christian words almost two thousand years old:

“I believe in one God, the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible … I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life … I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.”

Our small one’s life was made by God; invisible, yes. But sparked by the Lord, the giver of life and we all look forward to the life of the world to come. With all of us.

“For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have sung, we are his offspring.” (Acts 17:28).

Allison Howell and her family are longtime residents of the Valley. They are Catholic converts and keep a hobby farm full of animals and children. This column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman or its parent company, Wick Communications.