The Chicken or the Egg

Last evening, I listened attentively to a sensitive conversation about the point at which life begins. One clearly stated that human life began when God formed man from the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils (Genesis 2:7) and Job (33:4). Both state that the breath of God gave life. The other held that life begins at conception.

There arises a clear conflict between what science may support and the religious approach. At what point is the beginning of life protected by conventional law and at what point is it a matter of moral righteousness? Should one cross over into the path of the other?

I simply went to bed and slept on it!

This morning, I opened the fridge and removed an egg. For some reason I balanced it on my thumb and fingers, stared at it and contemplated the content of this delicate little shell. If the hen had been with a rooster this egg will be fertile! If so, is it already a chicken, or at what point of development does it become a chicken? Was I about to dine on poached egg, or boil a chicken?

Wow – And I haven’t even had breakfast yet!

I am aware that within this fragile shell the necessary ingredients to a rapidly developing life are present. To incubate, all that is needed is the body heat of the donor. When a hen ‘sets’ her egg, within thirty-six hours limbs and lungs will begin to develop, a heartbeat will commence on the fourth day and, within three weeks the beak will puncture the shell and it will breathe. Is this then, it’s dawning of life?

I now poached my – er- whatever it is?

The subject of the conversation I previously mentioned dwelt on the beginning of a human life. Of course, that development is totally supported within the mother.

Let me mention that I am not an obstetrician, I have no medical training, I take no credit for being knowledgeable about the beginning of life. Neither am I a devout member of the clergy. The following is a few bits of information I think I have learned.

The descent of an egg from the human uterine tube attaches and awaits the arrival of sperm. When fertilized it will become an embryo. The process begins.

As the fertile egg moves to the uterus, limbs, lungs, the head and other organs begin to develop. At the eighth week the embryo becomes a fetus. A brain will form and rapid growth will proceed. By now a detectable heart sound will indicate the heart is developing and be complete by week ten or so. By about the twelfth week limbs will move – mother will feel very reassured!

During this gestation period the fetus will have drawn all necessary nourishment from the host. The developing fetus will become physically functional and at about forty weeks, birth takes place.

At this point breathing begins and functioning lungs will permit the heart to deliver oxygenated blood to activate the brain and other parts of the body. By now the newborn’s digestive system is capable of processing nourishment from its own stomach.
It lives!

The conversation I referred to earlier was about – when does life begin? At what point should it be protected by constitutional law and when is it protected only by moral righteousness. Let us approach it from another direction. We know what death is, but what do we take to our afterlife? Is there an afterlife? If so, is it eternal? Does the answer to that question influence our opinion about the beginning of life? Should it?

I have read accounts of near-death experiences, and many have much in common. They spoke of an approach of brilliant light and of life’s memories flooding forth across the mind. This is accompanied by a feeling of peace and loving comfort. Does science provide some support for this? Let us explore it!

When approaching death, our bodily functions begin to shut down. As sight fails the brain ceases to record visual images and an all-encompassing misty light descends upon us. Hearing shuts down and nerve-end senses no longer transmit feelings to the still functioning brain. At this point there is a sensation of floating in weightless peace. Our heart has ceased pumping oxygen rich blood to the organ that recorded our life, the brain! Starved of life sustaining oxygen and with no current input, recent recollections begin flooding into the current thought chamber, the prefrontal cortex. As our body cools, they are followed by other recent memory retention’s that in turn vanish, replaced by those stored in more distant segments of the cerebral cortex. Some recollections may be those of actual experiences, some may be thoughts and fears ever warehoused in the imagination. Eventually, the synapses fade, then cease. The process is stilled.

In our real world there are beginnings and ends. Each venture and experience of our life is stored in some memory sector of our brain of which modern science knows little. Is this then our soul? Is this what we take to the next life? Is our soul comprised only of our life retention’s? If there are no memories – will there be a soul? (I am very reluctant to even type those words.)

When our mind is no longer tethered to our body, life in the real-world is over. Since we have no way of knowing it has ended do our closing recollections become eternity? Is this then our heaven, or perhaps a place of less appeal? Is our soul that which we have lived and will eternally embrace, or endure?

Now I will address a subject that I have never dared mention, let alone write about. (May God forgive me for bringing the subject up.)

In the afterlife do we mingle with people we never met during our lifetime on earth? Can we look back to earth from somewhere out there in the ether of space and view those that still live? Can an unborn having no earthly life acquire an afterlife? Will the unborn have a soul?

Let me reintroduce Genesis 2:7 – And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

I will put my case into the hands of the reader. You must live by what you chose to believe. It can be a true test of your faith!