CIRCLE OF LIFE

Love makes the world go ‘round. And what IS love? Definitions have included “Love is an act of the will, a decision to put the needs of another ahead of one’s own.” Descriptions include “Love is patient. Love is kind…. Love bears all things, hopes all things, believes all things, endures all things… Love never fails”. Apparently Love is important, maybe even crucial, to Life.

All life begins. Living things all have a moment at which they become "alive." That beginning of life marks the first point on the circle of life. Each family of living things has its own life cycle. Some organisms, like some fast plants, are born, mature, and die rapidly. Other organisms, like bristlecone pine trees, have life cycles lasting for thousands of years. Still others, like ourselves, are somewhere in between. We all share the need to continue, the imperative to reproduce our own life into future generations.

Love supplies the impetus, the “push”, for an organism, or a human being, to reproduce. We generally think of “falling in love” as involving some kind of “chemistry” occurring between two people, and as science has shown us, it actually is! The chemistry involved is caused by pheromones, and they are powerful! What happens while under the influence of these pheromones may explain WHY people sometimes involve themselves with other people, of the opposite gender, that if they were thinking and not feeling, if they were assessing all the social implications and financial ramifications of union, if they listened and obeyed their parents or other authorities, they would never do.

And just what are pheromones? They are naturally occurring substances the fertile body excretes externally, conveying an airborne message to trigger a response from the opposite sex of the same species.

And we know what happens next! Sex! Intercourse! And if this activity happens at a certain time in the woman’s menstrual cycle, her cycle of fertility, when an egg is released from the ovary and traveling down the fallopian tube at just the right speed, when armies of sperm are rushing for that egg--- then fertilization occurs, and a baby may be in-formation!

First the egg and sperm unite, and as each possessed only a single set of chromosomes, these single sets are merged into a double set, which is the usual for a cell. “And the two become one” This is called a zygote, and this begins to divide and multiply, to change and to develop. As it does the name of this “being” changes, to morula, to blastocyst, to trophoblast, and finally to embryo.

How does this formation proceed? In a process described by embryology, which is the study of this process:

Week 1-3: Five to seven days after fertilization, the blastula attaches to the wall of the uterus, the endometrium. When it comes into contact with the endometrium it performs implantation. Implantation connections between the mother and the embryo will begin to form, including the umbilical cord. The embryo's growth centers around an axis, which will become the spine and spinal cord. The brain, spinal cord, heart, and gastrointestinal tract begin to form.

Week 4-5: Chemicals produced by the embryo stop the woman's menstrual cycle, meaning no more eggs will be released by the ovary. Neurogenesis is underway, showing brain activity at about the 6th week. The heart will begin to beat around the same time. Limb buds appear where the arms and legs will grow later. Organogenesis begins. The head represents about one half of the embryo's length, and more than half of the embryo's weight. The brain develops into five areas. Tissue formation occurs that develops into the vertebra and some other bones. The heart starts to beat and blood starts to flow.

Week 6-8 Myogenesis and neurogenesis have progressed to where the embryo is capable of motion, and the eyes begin to form. Organogenesis and growth continue. Hair has started to form along with all essential organs. Facial features are beginning to develop. Rapid growth occurs and the embryo's main external features begin to take form. This process is called differentiation, which produces the varied cell types (such as blood cells, kidney cells, and nerve cells). A spontaneous abortion, or miscarriage, in the first trimester of pregnancy is usually due to major genetic mistakes or abnormalities in the developing embryo. During this critical period (most of the first trimester), the developing embryo is also susceptible to toxic exposures such as alcohol, certain drugs, & other toxins, infection (viral or bacterial), radiation, and nutritional deficiencies that can cause birth defects.

At the end of the 8th week, the embryonic stage is over, and the fetal stage begins.

Week 9-40 Growth & development continue, and with the precursors of the organs formed, the fetus is not as sensitive to damage from environmental exposures as the embryo. Instead, toxic exposures often cause physiological abnormalities or minor congenital malformation.

NOTE: Some fascinating studies in the scientific world indicate that these events may be far more than biochemical, that they may be energetic in a way that is as yet immeasurable and difficult to understand, but may actually point to the spiritual!