Wonder Before Politics
First Published Friday January 29, 2016. Revised Saturday May 30, 2026
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you ...
— Jeremiah 1
This week the lectionary presents both a reading from Jeremiah and a Psalm that speak of God's knowledge of us before we were formed in the womb.
That language has always stopped me in my tracks.
Not before we were born. Not when we were children. Not when we first became aware of God.
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.
Whatever else one believes about these passages, they invite us to view human life with a sense of wonder. They suggest that each person enters the world already known, already seen, already held within the purposes of God.
Few public issues generate more heat than abortion. Decades of political battles have left most people exhausted, defensive, and deeply suspicious of one another's motives. The conversation quickly becomes consumed by arguments over law, rights, personhood, medicine, morality, and politics.
Yet beneath all of those arguments remains a quieter question.
What if a new human life is not merely an event to be managed, but a mystery to be honored?
The Scriptures repeatedly portray children not as accidents in the eyes of God, but as possibilities. Every child enters the world carrying gifts, talents, relationships, and contributions that no one can fully predict. The next teacher, scientist, artist, nurse, parent, pastor, peacemaker, or reformer begins as a life hidden from view.
That realization does not magically solve every difficult circumstance. Life can be complicated, painful, and unfair. People face situations that others can scarcely imagine. The reality of those struggles deserves compassion rather than easy judgment.
But perhaps Christians are called to begin with wonder rather than anger.
And if we are going to speak about protecting life, then we must also be willing to support life. Concern for the child cannot end at birth. Concern for the mother cannot end with a lecture. The call to value life carries with it the responsibility to nurture, encourage, assist, and walk alongside those who bear the burdens of raising it.
Perhaps that is where this reading leaves me today.
Not with a political slogan, but with a question.
If God is indeed at work in every human life, how might He be calling me to protect, encourage, and nurture the lives entrusted to my care?
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