Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-03-04

the Age Of Miracles as
though 1t died with the dino
saurs. Anything great and
good that happens, which is
beyond human understand
ing to rationalize, to COM
prehend, to duplicate, is, per
Sc. a miracle. There are mir
acles every minute Of every
day. The most common one
is birth.
Two people are In love.
They go to a achurch or
temple and have this love
sanctified by God. In their
holy union is a Joy and, In
the Joy, a seed passes from
one to the other. At this
point. the miracle begins
because no man can explain
why the seed goes TO a secret
place. and there begins to
divide and multiply.
Even II man understood
why. he could not explain,
nor duplicate. the division
and redivision of cells until
there are billions Of them
and they form an infant.
Who tells the cells to fashion
a heart, lungs, a perfectly
formed little arm, a pink
fingernail no larger than a
fieck Of paint? How do the
cells know when to stop?
The mother cannot will
any Of this. Throughout all
Of 1t, she is q vessel with
nothing more to do with
the miracle than being
united to a man. Her -ap-
probation Of the miracle Is
often less than his. To her
way Of thinking. marriage
and babies are common con-
comitants and there Is moth
ing exciting about pregnancy.
AS the unborn infant
grows. it begins its life in
the dark little world of love.
1t is insulated against the
shocks of the outside world
by q warm pool Of fluid; It
gets its dinner at the proper
time and in the proper
amounts through the magic
Of the placenta. The only
connection between mother
and child Is through this
amazing chemistry plant.
The things the mother eats
and drinks are first digested
by her stomach and liver:
the good Is extracted and
used; the remainder finds its
way to the placenta and
there. by an additional mir
acle. Is transmitted into sub
stances 1T for the unborn
baby. No matter how poor.
or unbalanced. the diet Of
the mother. the placenta
will find and use only such
materials as the baby needs.
II she doesn't eat properly,
the placenta will rob the
mother Of calcium and any
thing else the baby wants.
In time, the infant will move.
AS it grows. 1t pushes aside
the organs of its mother.
When 1t is strong enough
to brave the chill Of the big
world, the baby Is born. 1t
emerges small. frightened.
wrinkled. eyes and fists shut
tight and man welcomes 1t
with the rude shock Of a
slap. Involuntarily, 1t sucks In
its first breath Just as. many
years later. 1t win exhale its
last one Involuntary.
The baby is bathed and
washed and examined. It is
wrapped in a receiving blan-
ket and. some time later. 1t
is presented to a fatigued
mother who smiles a pale
smile and looks down upon
it.
The tiny heart beats ra-
pidly with sharp clicks. The
toothless mouth opens and
the first message wall OF
hungerAcomes from 1t. The
little fingers open and close
rhythmically. The legs kick
spasmodically and the blue
eyes squirt against the light
and. for the first time. bury
images form on the retina
and are transferred by rods
to the brain. The infant sees
light.
The mother examines her
hearts love and. in the sweet
helplessness of the baby. her
Joy is almost infinitely sad.
The mouth will nuzzle to her
swarm breast with the greed
Of the unseeing and the un-
knowing. and 1t will draw its
sustenance as though it had
been doing this for years.
L