VIII. God’s Pregnancy
by Troy Cady
“History is cosmic pregnancy.” -Peter Kreeft
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us…We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth…” -The apostle Paul
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” -Jesus of Nazareth
I believe authentic ministry is an exercise in hope—and the first principle of hope is that we hope because God hopes.
The Bible uses the image of pregnancy to describe God’s hope. It is one of the portions of Scripture that troubles some Christians because it portrays God in feminine terms: God has a womb.
I think it is a beautiful image.
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The image of a pregnant God accounts for much of the human experience: joy in the midst of pain, patience in waiting, growth and nurture, immanence and transcendence.
It accounts for the feeling of hearing God’s voice as if from the inside. It is both strange and wonderful that maybe God’s voice is hard for us to understand not because God is so far away but because God is very close. God speaks but we have little capacity to understand what she is saying. God sings and the song gladdens our hearts inexplicably but we have yet to learn the song. Our songs are only imperfect copies of God-song. Comparatively, our songs are just mute potentialities.
We can be certain of this: God’s voice will be clearer when the new birth happens, when we grow till the life She is giving us is sustained in us. God is patient, confident in the expectation that, in time, we will develop sight, the ability to hear, to grasp, to move…till we have a heart that beats strongly, lungs that breath deeply, mouths that take nourishment and learn to savor, throats to swallow and a chest rising and falling in rhythm.
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My calling involves reminding others of these truths, that pain may last for a night but joy comes in the morning. If we feel pain momentarily, it is a comfort that we do not suffer alone. It is a comfort to me that our pain is not equivalent to God’s. God may be able to endure the pain better than us because God knows what is happening, what will emerge—but God’s pain is greater than ours, not less. When we suffer, God suffers more.
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My calling involves reminding others that whatever God makes is beautiful, bears the marks of God, resembles God.
Each creation God brings forth is unique. I believe that a world of infinite variety could only be made by an infinite God, whose creativity can never be exhausted.
I believe that God made our bodies and notices that the body is good. My calling involves reminding others to be good to the body, because the body is good.
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My calling is to help others be aware that God is closer than we think. There is no place we can go that God is not present. We are like pre-born babies in God’s womb. The Person all around knows us better than we know ourselves, loves us like no other. God is for us, not against us. God delights in us, sings over us, is expectant.
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The specific voice of my calling is a voice of joy, a voice that sounds like play. Whatever God makes, God makes freely because of joy. Whatever God makes is a work that is more like play than work; it is a restful work.
God makes freely so we who are made in God’s image are free to be ourselves, free to create, free to attach and detach. It is a strange paradox that only by clinging to God closely do we find the deepest freedom.
God’s pregnancy is no trial to God. God endures because of joy. God embraces and awaits embrace, anticipates deeper communion with us. She smiles when She thinks of all the play we shall enjoy with Her. I smile, too, and want everyone to know Her joy.
Ministry is an exercise in hope because God is pregnant. We don’t know precisely what God will bring to life, what grows inside, but we know what comes forth will be good, beautiful and destined for joy.
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