Daddy’s Here…. Mommy’s Here!

Our son is teething, which is the adult equivalent of having your skeleton slowly pulled to the outside of your body over a period of months. Needless to say, I’m glad I have no recollection of this happening to me. Perhaps this is why most of our first memories only go back to say, our 4th or 5th year of life.

So teething makes for some looong nights for all of us, especially mommy, who continues to amaze me with her lightning fast tenderness and penchant for turning anything into a soothing melody. We dole out lots of whispered songs and stories, walks down the hall and back again, and heartfelt assurances that “Mommy’s here” and “Daddy’s here.” What else can we say?

We could try something like: “Listen little one, you’re getting your teeth. You’re going to love them! They will help you chew up your food. You’ll be able to eat lots of new things with your teeth, things you couldn’t eat before. Your teeth will help you talk to mommy and daddy and ask them all sorts of things because your teeth will work with your tongue to form words. And your teeth will bring a whole new gift to the world; your smile! It will be a way to let others know you are happy to see them or that something gives you joy. Teeth are a great gift! Trust me… it’s going to be OK…. Daddy’s here with you!”

And he would respond with something like: “AAAAAAAGHAHGHHGRR?#@!?WW”

I think we Big People can learn a little something about suffering from all of this pain our little ones go through. After all, I’m discovering that God the Father has written countless lessons for me right in the flesh and blood book of my family life.

“Everything speaks to me.”

Don’t we cry too in our moments of “spiritual” teething? We cry our, “God, why did such and such have to happen? Why didn’t You stop this or that from happening? Why is there evil in the world? Why do the innocent suffer? And what is this painful longing and this aching thirst in me that I can never seem to quench in this world?”

The Father could try saying something like: “Listen little ones, you’re getting your heart. You’re going to love it! It will help you chew up the food of your experiences. You’ll be able to taste lots of new things with your heart, things you couldn’t swallow before. Your heart will help you talk to Daddy and Mommy and ask them all sorts of things because your heart will work with your mind to form words. And your heart will bring a whole new gift to the world; your spirit! It will be a way to let others know you are happy to see them or that something gives you joy. The heart is a great gift! Trust me… it’s going to be OK…. Daddy’s here with you!”

How do we respond to a Word like that?

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org

Open Up and Say "Awe"

“Entrances to holiness are everywhere. The possibility of ascent is all the time. Even at unlikely times and through unlikely places.”

– Bamidbar Rabba

Our little boy is captivated by absolutely everything. He is nine months old; his little eyes are brand new, his tiny ears are brand new, and his little soul is like a sponge absorbing EVERYTHING.

We watch in amazement as the little nuances of sunlight on a wall capture his attention, or the corners and colors of his toy blocks become like the facets of a diamond in his hands. The other day, he amused himself with a plastic cup for about 15 minutes, turning it over and over again in his fingers, crinkling it, bending it, chewing on it. It was hilarious too watch, and humbling at the same time. Humbling that something so ordinary could capture his attention for so long…

Our little boy is teaching us as parents, with our 30 something eyes and ears and hearts, to see everything as if fresh from the Hands of God. These are the days of living wonder for him… and for us.

THE BIG PICTURE

Catholics are back in “Ordinary Time,” liturgically speaking, but beware… this is just when the most extraordinary things can happen. With the coming of the Holy Spirit, I think we’re given the power to see things in their true light, finally.

Our boy is still dripping with the waters of Baptism; he can see. But with the gift of the Spirit, we too can “see.” Finally, the veil of mediocrity, of ennui, of agenda, or mere utility (only seeing a thing as a thing for our use) is pulled away. The Spirit is our Divine Physician making a house call, inviting us to open up our mouths and say “awe.” To be captivated again. Behold! The world is full of gratuitous beauty! Faces, places, colors, sounds take on all the freshness which they had for us when we were young and the world was new.

Further, we can with the gift of the Holy Spirit go into those places we once feared the most; the inner depths of our own hearts, those locked rooms, those shadowlands that we thought we’re unapproachable by anyone, including ourselves, let alone God. Now, He whispers, let’s “lower our nets for a catch.” And He says, “Fear not,” reminding us that we are truly called to be like little children, and that He Who Is Our Father will take us into those places by the Hand.

May God grant us “old heads” the grace to become little again. To rediscover everything, to see every object and every subject, every thing and every person as a gift from the Hands of the Father. From the ordinary and mundane to the extraordinary and sublime…

“To see the miraculous within the ordinary is the mark of highest wisdom.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Inspiration for the New Evangelization
http://www.missionmoment.org