Re: Australopithecine birth and midwifery
Teo Family (AdrianTeo@mailhost.net)
Sat, 4 Apr 1998 12:26:33 -0800----------
> From: RDehaan237 <RDehaan237@aol.com>
> I suggest that a simpler explanation is that midwifery involves a process
of
> social learning, passed on from generation to generation by imitation,
> apprenticeship, mentoring; and originating in the empathy of one woman
for
> another regarding the process of birthing, of bringing new life into
being,
> which I can only imagine must be a strong, elemental motivational
feeling.
>
> Theologically, I would relate midwifery ultimately, I mean as far back as
you
> can go, to the image of God in humans. Why? Because it requires
imagination
> and memory, the ability of one woman to imagine or remember what it is
like
> for another to bear a child. Imagination and memory are among the
highest
> mental functions, the ability to transcend the here and now, one's own
> existential situation, and to enter into that of another.
Imagination is perhaps not the best word for this - I suggest
perspective-taking ability, which is based on empathy. This ties in very
nicely with the image of God in people. And empathy suggest a fundamental
level of connectedness that is only possible because we share something in
common - our very essence of being. I would also go on to suggest that
communication is based on that same fundamental level of connectedness, for
otherwise, no communication would be possible.
Just a thought.
Adrian Teo.