Conception begins with two cells that keep dividing and by the time a person is an adult the number of his cells is truly an astronomical figure. We can imagine that the distance from the tip of our foot to the top of our head is comparable to the distance from one end of the solar system to the other. A baby in its mother’s womb is already a big universe.
The cells don’t know how the whole being is going to be shaped. Imagine that the eyes didn’t find their right place and ended up at the navel instead. Perhaps one palm might be turned outward while the other faced the normal way. The nose could have been made crooked by one simple misalignment of cells, or the teeth could have grown from the fingertips. Imagine how easily the parts of your body could have been misplaced. But they were not. Instead, everything took its proper position. Even if you don’t feel handsome you can feel relieved and happy that you were born normal.
Do any of you women feel that you were very unfortunate to be born as a woman? Considering all the complicated processes of your body you have every reason to be grateful to be born as you were. Many mothers confess that when they are in labor it is so painful that they wish the baby were very small like a fist so that birth would hurt less. But then once the baby is delivered, the mother’s concern turns instantly to her child and she checks everything to see that all is normal. She examines the eyes, ears, nose, hands and feet and opens the mouth to make sure the baby has a tongue. It is a great relief when the baby has its first bowel movement and the urine flows out right. This might sound funny, but the mother is quite serious about making sure the baby is functioning normally. Can you feel that or do you think the mother is worrying too much? The mother has great anxiety until the baby takes its first milk; then for the first time she knows that she has a perfectly normal baby and she is relieved.
You should know that someone was happy to find your eyes the way they are and every part of your body the way it is. Your own mother was the first one who really rejoiced at the way you function. What about your father? Your mother was so happy after making sure that everything was in the proper order that to see her relief your father was also happy.
When nursing her baby, does any mother think that it would be better if part of her baby’s face were different? Even though the baby may be clearly out of proportion, she never thinks that way because she is happy that her baby is healthy. Does the father feel happy too? Does any father bring his child up thinking that she will have to have plastic surgery when she grows up because she is not very pretty? On the contrary, even though the father does not think she is beautiful he still believes that as she grows up everything will come into proportion. Don’t you think the father and mother will feel like that?
Have you heard the saying that when a baby is very pretty at first she generally grows up not being so attractive, and when a baby is rather ugly when she is born that she grows up to be more beautiful? This seems to hold true generally. A girl who looks very pretty when she is 20 or 21 years old seems to become less beautiful as she ages. If she looks a little plump at 21 or 22 years of age then she will look good the rest of her life and not be ugly when she gets old. No matter how beautiful a girl is, it seems to be difficult to retain that beauty after she has given birth to three children.
Your parents were the first to be concerned about how you looked, and once your mother was satisfied that everything was all right she prayed and hoped and did everything for you. Now that you are fully grown what right do you have to complain about the way you look? It is unjust to complain about the way you look. If you keep your mind beautiful as you grow older, then always the appearance of your face and body will improve, becoming more and more beautiful.
Let Us Be Grateful
Reverend Sun Myung Moon
June 18, 1978
As I Can See 