AN action movie has one actor saying in part, “One thing I learned, it’s never to mess with mother-nature or your mother-in-law…” Unquestionably, he was referring to mothers, figuratively and literally.
By and large, mothers are associated with the womb, also known by its medical counterpart as “uterus.” A website even calls the latter the “Great Mother.” While men may feel discomfited about this matter, we may be surprised to find a lot of women likewise standing to be ill at ease on the issue of this muscular organ. More than being a vessel where a baby grows before it is born, the nature and characteristics of this reproductive organ can astonish or amaze. Some fast facts include a number of women having two uteruses or with none at all. For the latter condition, medical technology has evolved into offering a remedy—a uterine transplant—where the recipients went on to conceive and give birth. Quite amazing! Also, the uterus can go from 3 inches long and 2 inches wide—approximately the size of a pear or a smart phone, even your fist, to the size of a watermelon—as the baby inside grows. It has a network of nerves, arteries, veins and ligaments responsible for directing the blood flow to other parts of a woman’s body.
Lest women rush to call up their Ob-Gyne or prod their petrified husbands to accompany them for a doctor’s visit, let us take a halt on anatomy and carry on with conversing about the significance of a womb. As we see ourselves in the mirror, or gaze at our companion, even at a stranger from afar, it is always but logical to conclude that we all came from a beginning point. The womb is an absolutely necessary place to start. The formation of a human body is made possible by it. Fascinatingly, inside our mothers’ womb, we all come together at a position of “sameness.” One preacher has asserted that as embryos, we all looked exactly the same! Although unique attributes exist genetically from the moment of conception, on the outward scale, we are precisely alike. One cannot look at an early embryo and detect its gender, or recognize whether it is black or white, brown or red. Neither can anyone tell whether he or she will be a person with high aptitude or be debilitated with a disease or infirmity. As embryos in a womb, all humanity looks the same.
Beguilingly, on the point of “sameness,” it may be well to recall that Jesus Christ looked “exactly the same” as you and me. He also came from Mary’s womb, not from elsewhere appearing all too suddenly aboard a chariot wielding a sword. He was a human being like people from Alaska, or the West or the East. He came as a living form just like individuals from the Philippines or Australia, and like folks working in hospitals and groceries. As the aforecited preacher stated movingly, “Jesus came as an embryo in a womb to identify with all humanity and to bring salvation to all humanity.” He was formed in the womb, and was called from the womb for a purpose, thus He says, “The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.” [Isaiah 49:1].
Believe it or don’t, we are all formed in our mother’s womb for a reason. As we were woven or intricately embroidered, so to speak, inside the uterus, our function in life is knitted there as well. There is a purpose in our existence, which only we can fulfill. That is why we see others working abroad as a missionary, or serving the community as a street-sweeper, a policeman, or a village politician. Still others accomplish what they were born for by caring for the elderly, or performing in a musical stage. Whatever it is, it cannot be gainsaid that you and I were created and formed in a womb and born with a destiny. Alike we may all have started, in order to relate with one another, but different we shall finish according to a divine special purpose, as in the case of Mother Teresa.
Starting out as a teacher, then a nun, she eventually ended up as a missionary. Her name and advocacy will always be associated with helping the poor. Faced with so much challenges at the onset of her mission, she once thought and told herself—“You have only to say the word and all that will be yours again,” the Tempter kept on saying. “Of free choice, my God, and out of love for you, I desire to remain and do whatever be your Holy will in my regard. I did not let a single tear come.” She was an ordinary woman who sought extraordinary challenges and found her purpose. She said, “By blood, I am Albanians, By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”
Like others, I am still attempting to discern my reason for being while most of my family and friends may have already carried it out. From my end, I could say that while I took the same path of teaching as my mother did, or became a public servant and military man like my father once was, my real calling falls within the ambit of being a writer. More than being a lawyer advocating a client’s rights, and further than sitting behind a corporate desk helping in the growth of a private company, my heart could sense (and I pray it beats correctly) that the power of my words, written and spoken, goes beyond all my other professions. Through writing and teaching, I can reach friends and strangers, those close by and ones that are far away. My text and letters, as published in the form of books and columns such as this, accord me with enough elbow room to tackle grace-filled stories about people and institutions, even events, and responsibly share life-changing lessons that the readers can bring home to their families as living principles. Hopefully, by writing (or teaching), I can fulfill God’s special purpose that He created me for.
Long has it been a venerable truth, as long-standing as the Bible, that you and me, like the apostle Paul, were destined for a spiritual calling. Galatians 1:15 says, “…God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace….” Clearly, you and I were “separated” or set apart for a special purpose. The process involved our mothers’ wombs because our Heavenly Creator already knew our vocation even before we could be born. More notably, God called us by grace, not on account of our merits, or respective efforts, or because we are better than others. He chose each one of us out of unadulterated grace, and no amount of hard work or goodness from our end can add anything to His call.
If we have already determined our calling and are pursuing it to completion is a bonus. Our Heavenly Creator will be pleased to see how we can fulfill the special purpose for which He called us from our mother’s womb. As we celebrate this Mothers’ Day, may we find and fulfill our purpose in life so as not to lay to waste all the joy and suffering our mothers have been through when they carried us in their respective wombs.
A former infantry and intelligence officer in the Army, Siegfred Mison showcased his servant leadership philosophy in organizations such as the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Malcolm Law Offices, Infogix Inc., University of the East, Bureau of Immigration, and Philippine Airlines. He is a graduate of West Point in New York, Ateneo Law School, and University of Southern California. A corporate lawyer by profession, he is an inspirational teacher and a Spirit-filled writer with a mission.
For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.