‘Fearfully and Wonderfully Made’
‘Fearfully and wonderfully made’
‘I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made’. This is the testimony of the psalmist (139), who in the previous verse also acknowledges: ‘…you knit me together in my mother’s womb’.
As I write this, I have been a grandfather for less than two weeks and am reflecting on our second visit to see the twins Adam & Zoë, now safely home. Camera and computer are already full of images of them – duly emailed to friends and family. And I cannot get out of my mind’s eye the sight of twin Zoë – held in my arms – and those amazing, enquiring, deep, deep blue eyes staring back at her Grandad and the world around her! It was a moment to treasure, along with all the others in the course of our first two visits to see the twins.
To see your own son, now holding his infant son – and daughter (separately!) – to hold them oneself sleeping warm, soft and secure in your arms; to hear them breathing; to feel the softness of their skin – all this and much more will remain long in the memory. And all this is after less than two weeks of grandfatherhood! To those who are already grandparents, please forgive all this outpouring of emotion. And to those who may not be grandparents, I ask your understanding and indulgence!
We often talk about ‘the miracle of new life’ and that is what it is, as our Psalmist recognised two and a-half millennia ago. ‘Fearfully and wonderfully made’ in the divine image of our Creator whom the Psalmist and we, in turn, acknowledge and bless – for all his blessings to us.
Holding a new life, barely a week old in your arms brings with it a mixture of emotions – to this new Grandad, anyway. Pride and joy, certainly and a measure of relief after a protracted and stress-laden labour, ending in ‘Caesarean’ births – we sympathised with our daughter-in-law, who, with twins at her side, said ‘It was worth it!’
But other thoughts pass through a new grandparent’s mind also. What will the future hold for these two new lives? What kind of a world will they grow up in? How much potential is contained within those tiny bodies? As September approaches, so too does the season of harvest once again. And along with the corn and the crops, there is an even richer harvest – of humanity & all our God-given capacity of intellect, imagination and inspiration. Sadly we have to acknowledge that in so many parts of God’s world and within our own shores, all that potential at birth is snuffed out by deprivation, injustice, lack of opportunity and downright wickedness.
But, as harvest comes upon us, this ecstatic grandfather recalls the words of the hymn: ‘For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child…Father, unto you we raise this our sacrifice of praise.’ Amen! Amen!
Grandad of two, Nick
