[music] The earth turns, day follows night. The seasons change and in the long unraveling of time, an infinite varietyof natures, shapes and forms unfold. [music] Within this shifting world of nature, the human race exists. The human cycle here repeats itself. Man with his family enjoys the wide earth and, gradually, as time expands, generation follows generationacross the years. In the creation of the family, man and woman fulfill those laws of nature whereby the human raceensures its continuity. [music] The slow and subtle growthfrom single cell to newborn child takes place within a setting here seen through the eye of imagery. Within the pelvis of the woman lies that protected regionwhere the drama is enacted, which begins in love and ends with the emergence of new life unlike any which came before or any to come after. Safe within the pelvic structure,rests the uterus, the first shelter where life, when implanted,will begin to grow. Powerful musclessurround the opening at the center. From the uterus, two tubes with ducts,slightly larger than a hair, extend back and up. These are the oviducts through which the cell of lifewill begin its first journey. Here on either side of the uterus, there lies an ovary, within which the cells are waiting from which human life will begin. Here is such a cell, an ovum, greatly magnified. In reality, it could scarcely be seenwith a human eye and yet,within this minute spot of matter, there lies one halfthe secret of the color of eyes to be. Of nerves,which will react to joy or pain. Of a brainwhich will define some new ambition. In fact, within this cell and the masculine cellwhich will come to it, the whole patternof God's design lies potent, waiting for the momentwhen it will expand, take form and house the human spirit. The earth turns. The seasons change. The rhythms of the human bodyare given purpose and definition. When a girl becomes a mature woman, about every 28 days,a cycle repeats itself called ovulation. Within one or other of the ovaries,the body prepares to free a cell. Gradually, a liquid forms, surrounding the ovumand creating a follicle which over a period of daysincreases in size until it finally breaks open. The ovum is expelledand drawn into the oviduct within which it moves toward the uterus. The interior walls of the uterusin the meantime have become enriched with blood cells in preparationto nourish the advancing ovum. The ovum, however, does not grow unless it is joined by the cell of a man, and so it disintegrates. The enriched lining of the uterusserving as yet no purpose is shed. This process is menstruation. Each month, the cycle repeats itself, a pattern of expectation, awaiting the unionfrom which a human life will grow. [music] The earth turns, day follows night. The seasons change. Every spring, nature in joyous extravagance celebrates the renewal of life, and likewise, man in the communion of his love ensuresthat his own image will be perpetuated. In each occasion of his ecstasy, perhaps two million,perhaps six million spermatozoa enter the uterus through the vagina. Of all this migrating mass, only one cell is neededto perform the necessary union. Only during the few days when the ovumis in the upper third of the oviduct can it be fertilized. Gradually the sperm move upwardthrough the cavity of the uterus into the passages of the oviducts. In the heads of these advancing cells is the nucleus,containing the chromosomes, that vital material, which, when combined with an equal numberof female chromosomes, will determinethe physical development of the child. While a number of spermatozoamay enter the ovum, only one fertilizes it. Now new life begins. Within the ovum,the nucleus of the sperm enlarges. Male and female chromosomes intermingle. The halves are drawn to opposite poles and two new cells are formed with equal numbers of chromosomesfrom mother and father. These chromosomes, it is believed, are composedof thousands of infinitesimal units, too small to be seeneven under the microscope. These are the genes, each havingits predetermined and exact location in lengthy succession. They exercise a chemical control, directing and restricting those changeswhich determine future form and function. Whether, for instance,the child will eventually have a large, bony frame like his father, or a tendency to slimness like his mother, whether the color of his eyeswill be brown or blue. The location of the geneswithin the chromosomes is not a matter of chance. Their order is determined by the unionof the father's and mother's genes, and of their parents' genes,and their parents' parents. Backward from generation to generation until the sources are lostin the vast ocean of time. This newly developing unit of life, in reality no bigger than a pinpoint, contains within itan echo of the whole parental history. An unbroken line from the dim past which will carry life forwardinto the future. After six or seven days, the cell cluster arriveswithin the uterus, the walls of which have been enrichedin the menstrual cycle. Here the journey ends. It settles, usually against the upper partof the uterine wall. Its outer cells gently dissolvethe surrounding tissue, and so it nestlesinto the lining of the uterus, which closes over it. Here is the first resting place. The first sheltered and protected home. Now, within the new cell structure,a clear, transparent liquid has formed. Two cavities appear. The amniotic sac and the yolk sac. A different type of cell, the mesoderm,grows between the cavities. Gradually the growing organismmoves toward the center of the fluid, attached by a stalk which will eventually becomethe umbilical cord. Here the embryo gradually takes form as though an invisible sculptor, rememberingthe whole evolution of mankind, is at work modeling the living material. The form turns inward, creating a groove. The inner walls of whichwill one day become the vital spinal cord. Two rows of raised spots appear. These will eventually becomethe column of the spine. This swelling will hold the heart. These minute budswill become arms and legs. Inside the embryo,the cells forming the brain are at work. The forebrain, as weeks go by,will enlarge until it becomesthe potential dwelling place for the inheritanceof all man's accumulated knowledge. The brain in turn will send forth messages, commands, sensations, which will be communicatedthrough the nerve cells. As the embryo develops, the nerves reachinto every part of the body. Then, about the 25th day, the heart muscle of the new beingbegins its delicate essential rhythm, which will continuethroughout its entire lifetime. Yet this minute embryois no more than 1/2 an inch long. Warmly protected, it floatsin the fluid of the amniotic sac, which in turnfloats in the chorionic sac. Here, firmly implantedwithin the inner wall of the uterus, it is guarded by the thick musclesof the uterus itself and the encircling pelvic bone. Safely and surely, a new life is growing. [music] A new life is growing. As yet not visible, but certain as the trees above her head, certain as the earth beneath her feet. Now this welcome knowledge may be shared. [music] Now the mature summergrows rich with fruit and grain. Between sunlight, stream, and hidden root, there is a constant counterpointof give and take. [music] Also, within the body of the woman, another pattern of dependenceis developing, for here the subtle winding streamof good red blood flowing through the mother's arteries brings nourishmentto the growing life within. In the embryo too, a new pattern of circulationis beginning to function. In the first weeks of its existence, small islands of red cells form. These gradually become blood vessels, passing from yolk sac to embryoacross the body stalk into the branch-like structure,the villi. At an earlier stage, these villi had grown outin every direction, gently dissolving the surrounding tissue so that they became immersed in a constant supply of maternal blood. However, as time goes by, the villi away from the wall of the uterusdisintegrate, while thosenearby the maternal blood supply grow profusely. As the fetus enlarges so that the cavity of the uterusis filled, the remaining villi have growninto its transient efficient organ, the placenta. Away stationed for the exchange of foodand the elimination of waste. The placenta,if it could be examined closely, is like a dense thicket, where, within each branch, there is a delicate coreof artery and vein. Through these, food materials, oxygen,water, and minerals, the very stuff of life, are carried from the mother to the baby. This essential nourishment passesthrough the body stalk, which has now become the umbilical cord. Yet within the labyrinth of the placentain which this interchange takes place, the blood of the mother and childdo not intermingle. The nourishing foodpasses through a cell wall, which protects and purifies, while in the opposite direction the waste products from the child's body pass into the mother's veins to be disposed ofthrough her lungs and kidneys. Yet, without this proximitywithin the placenta, the new life could not be sustained. From the third to the sixth month,growth is more rapid. The change is now apparentin the curve of the mother's abdomen. Inside the stretching musclesof the uterus, the child floats in the amniotic fluid, which acts as a shock absorber and preserves a constant temperature. By the sixth month, the head is smallerin relation to the body. The bones have begun to harden. The organs are well-developed. The arms and legsnow have a movement of their own. [music] The autumn now has spent itself, the silent snow falls on the earth and, with each passing day, the time of birth comes near us still and nearer. [music] When after all the necessary monthsof silent, peaceful growth, the child is ready to be born, the rhythm of labor begins. Gentle contractions, scarcely noticeable, have gone onduring most of the pregnancy. Now they occur at regular intervals, perhaps one every half hour. [music] Until this time, the uterus has been an accommodating home, which has grownabout 20 times its original size. Strong ligaments anchor itto the pelvic structure. The muscles which form its wallsare in three groups. Those running lengthwise, those which spiral clockwise and counterclockwise. When labor begins, without effort on the mother's part, these muscles contractin perfect coordination. This tighteningusually begins at the top, moving diagonally downward. The force of the movement pushes the childwithin its sack of water against the opening of the uterus, the cervix, which expands little by littlewith each contraction. Familiar activities continue, for the process of laboris as natural as breathing. [music] During the coming hour,she will need all her strength, for in her laborthere is one single purpose, to bring the life within her bodyoutward. [music] After each contraction,there is a period of relaxation. [music] At some time during labor, the fluid,which until now has cushioned the baby, is no longer necessary and escapes. Sometimes after many hours,sometimes after few, the second stage of labor begins. On this act,she will now focus all her attention and concentrate all her energy. [music] The cervix has opened, the baby passes into the birth canal. Now with all her might, she pushes, aiding the natural progress of her child. The time of birth is near. [music] After the baby, the placenta, no longer of any use, is quickly and easily expelled. [music] The seasons change, day follows night. The earth turns, and, in the long unraveling of time, generation follows generation, in endless succession. Here in this repeated image, like an endless echo,thrust into the future, the human race carries forwardthe imprint of its own past, and, in this act of renewal, finds affirmation. [music]