Conceivable Chaos

Photo credit: Jonathan Borba

Why are we at war? At each others’ throats? After 100 billion minds, created over many billions of years, why can we not reconcile dissent?

We marvel at the Wonders of it all (only seven?), natural and human, that we see in the sky, from paint brushes, printed words, complex equations, and from seemingly insurmountable challenges resolved.

Though considerable accomplishments should be celebrated: jet propulsion to the moon, instantaneous knowledge and human contact from small devices, procedures and pills renouncing mortality – all are rendered common by the birth of a child, your child.

Months of discomfort, many unknowns, possibilities, pain . . . culminates in fibrous joy, elation. A tiny face, so innocent, skin so soft, a fleeting moment in time where nothing else matters, and hope is abundant.

But what of defects, dreams unrealized, little means of support -- worse, nonconsensual conception?

Thomas Malthus asked: How many of these miracles birthed before society is no longer sustainable, viable, exceptional?

Disease, plague, eugenics, sterilization, natural selection, abortion materialize . . . physical and ideological battlefields aplenty.

Was Eve framed? Where did some of the contributors of Y chromosomes go? Do they have the right to abandon this miracle? Mothers flourish with proper support, how is that realized?

It’s improbable that societal leaders will ever truly satisfy the issues brought forth by conception, childbirth, then child-raising, it’s too personal, and we are too tribal. But codify, organize, and direct we must, chaos ensues.

What we wholeheartedly must do is appreciate the sacrifices of mothers, the unique role women play in our lives, as we sort through what is fair and just. Embrace those you love, not just for one designated day, and do your best to seek tranquility.

Carl Sandberg stated: “A baby is God's opinion that life should go on.” Nothing we do in this plain will attain greater significance, anxiety, and pure joy than raising a child. That is the meaning of celebrating every mother. Every day.