Walking along a street in any populous city, New York City, for example, filled, no, jammed, with people walking along with you, coming toward you, crossing the street to your left, to your right, or surrounding you at a rock concert, thronged in anonymity, shoulder to shoulder in the dark, pulsing to sound – you can not but be impressed with the number of human beings. Now, pan back, back further, and view an entire city, an entire area, filled with people; pan back further, States, the United States, Europe, the number of people – and, then think that each and every one of them, each and every one, was born individually – sometimes, rarely, in multiples – to a woman, a woman who had a pregnancy, and individually gave birth to that person.
Seven billion and counting, presently alive; and each one was born to a woman.
If you slowly read that sentence again, it’s astounding.
Start again. A crowd; think of merely a crowd in a restaurant, diners, sitting around tables, waiters bring orders, cooks in the kitchen, all assembled, joined in that small area, and all, at some point, were children, born to a woman, diaper changed, spoon fed.
What an incredible activity. How did all these people become born and exist all at the same time. I don’t remember every single woman walking in the street, or most, or a lot of them, being pregnant at the same time. Where, when did all these people become born.
Now as you look at the crowd around you, mostly about the same age, some older, some younger, but I don’t remember all the women who had to give birth to this mass being pregnant. I don’t remember all the women who had to be pregnant to give birth to all the people around me at this very moment, on this street, in this restaurant, being pregnant.
Are you sure all these people were born to woman?
Well, of course.
How did it happen? When did it happen?
It’s just astounding!