God the Midwife

Most of us are familiar with the line from Psalm 139 in which the psalmist says to God, “You knit me in my mother’s womb.” However, it appears that God is not only creator but midwife, because in Psalm 71, the psalmist says, “…it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.”

What a wonderfully intimate and feminine image: God as a midwife who guides us through the narrow passage into new life and catches us when we emerge. Yet somehow that sense of intimacy fades as we grow out of childhood and feel the need to assert our independence—making our own decisions, forging our own path. God the midwife waits patiently for us to remember that early partnership when it was we who made the journey but She who facilitated our passage.

Whether we accept or resist God’s guidance throughout adulthood, at the end of our earthly life, God the midwife assists us again in the journey everyone must make—this time through the passageway of death that leads to a new world beyond our understanding. When it is our turn to make that journey, may we proceed with trust that God will be there to catch us when we emerge into new life.