Lessons Learned
A few days ago, I met with three young women and a five-week old baby girl. As with most gatherings of women and babies, all our eyes were focused upon this precious child who went from being quite content to becoming hungry to being fussy and finally to being fully at rest. And that was all within an hour!
As this infant was held, she would wriggle her way to curl up as if she was still in her mother’s womb. I smiled watching her find a secure position and then fall fast asleep. When I mentioned this, the mother replied: ‘yes, this is her 4th trimester. Babies really need twelve months to be born’.
Over these days, I have pondered this experience often and have shared the wisdom with people who have come to Eremos seeking a ‘secure place’ in which to find themselves and God.
‘I don’t know who God is anymore’ said one woman. ‘I can’t feel God in this time of confusion’ said another. And a third person said: “I know there is a God, I just don’t know what that means’! These statements come from the yearning of the soul seeking a quality of relationship it once knew. For each of these women, life as they knew it and felt it had changed.
When life changes in this way, we are being born out of the womb of God. It feels different. It looks different. It is different. But we don’t know that. For some, we may fear that we have done something wrong. We question ourselves, we question our beliefs, we question God in our attempts to make sense of the new life we find ourselves in. Like the 5-week old, we need time, safety and space to catch up with all that has happened and is happening.
Like the 5-week infant we too will grow into this new identity. We will grow into this new relationship with God and discover how God remains with us in new and ever expanding ways. As a parent often wonders what this child will become, so too the meaning and direction of life will unfold in all the events and experiences of our lives.
As you journey into and through this beginning of summer, may you find peace and contentment in all you encounter.
