Soo,
Thank you for posting Michael Leunig's prayer. I've been pondering it, and it's fascinating. There's already a lot of literature about fear (although probably not enough for us to understand how it affects decision making regarding childbirth), but much less about love. Maybe I'm missing what is out there - apart from Ina May Gaskin, is there much on spiritual midwifery? Spiritual love and human love may take very different forms, of course. I'm awaiting Jennifer Hall's paper on spirituality with interest. (Jen * where and when is it coming out?)
In our largely secular western tradition, spirituality in many aspects of health care has been pushed to the margins. Very different from when I worked in Kenya, and prayer was an integral part of the ward day. I vividly remember one woman on the operating table who was about to have a caesarean. Without any theatrics she stopped everything and prayed for herself and all of us. Such behaviour would be the cause of much comment in this country, some of it probably unpleasant. There, it was an expression of spiritual need, as well as of faith, and was accepted as perfectly normal.
Would anyone be interested in doing some research into this subject in Britain?
Andrew Symon
Dundee
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