My eye was struck by this unusual title of an editorial in an issue of The Times of London (December 14, 1973), and as I read the article, I began to think deeply of the significance of the title and of its relevance to current affairs.
Midwifery is generally accepted as being the skill or art of assisting at childbirth, and I remembered being taught in the Christian Science Sunday School that the word "reality" comes from the Latin word "res" which means literally "thing," or that which actually exists.
The article was written at a time when the shortage of oil was becoming a matter of international concern and there was considerable industrial unrest in Britain. In fact, the word "crisis" was on everyone's lips, and many gloomy forebodings were to be seen and heard in the press and on the radio. So I read with great interest this passage in the editorial: "It is characteristic of most crises that they are the point at which reality breaks through illusion."
