Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Genesis…again

The Hebrew Bible begins with the words "In the beginning…" – my Hebrew is a little rusty (let's be honest, it was always rusty), but I think the literal translation is "At the head of things…" At birth, if things go well, it is the head that enters into the world first. At the beginning of one's life, his head emerges from the comfort of a warm womb into the blaring lights and commotion of a delivery room. For a few brief seconds it is a rude and alarming welcome. Then, bloody, wet and shivering she is placed on the bosom of her mother. There a new comfort is found – it is a place of provision and protection…or at least it should be.

As my second son's head entered the world – permeating the room with his cries before the rest of his body had emerged – I was immediately hit with a wave of emotion. I fought back tears as he was rested on his mother's bosom. I fought back tears as I watched him make the first movements with his arms and legs – and trying to open those beautiful blue eyes. I fought back tears as I held him for the first time – so small, even at a robust 8 lbs. and 5 oz. – and heard those first baby noises, and felt the first touches from those baby hands and feet.

Over the first few days of his life I have found myself fighting back tears and emotions left and right. One of our first visitors brought their one-year old son. As I watched him laugh and clap with the unfettered joy of a human being who still lives in Eden, I was reminded of the wonderful innocence with which we come into the world. Later as I watched my first-born, almost four years old, hold his new baby brother for the first time I was impressed with his willingness to welcome a stranger into his life. And as my father gazed deeply into the face of this newborn I recalled the power of a blessing that is passed from one generation to the next.

Something about this new birth had the power to peel away the calloused layers covering my humanity. Suddenly I have found a renewed sensitivity to others – something that has been lacking in the disillusioned malaise of my recent history. I've found myself reawakened to the sacred – maybe finally beginning to put the jagged pieces of a broken faith back together, though the picture emerging appears quite different…more abstract than paint-by-numbers.

Maybe the revival of sensitivity is due to 'something in the air' – quite literally. Because with every new birth comes new life. And maybe, because with every new birth of humanity, God comes into the world anew – a life imbued with the divine image, lungs filled with the breath of God. As the baby emerges head first, and breathes, his exhale is a fresh wind of God to be inhaled by those in its presence.

And the baby herself is a tangible reminder – that God is love…selfless love. With every new garment, with every diaper change, with every feeding, with every sleepless night, with every doctor bill paid, with every change to 'our' routine, we are given a new opportunity to love without reciprocation – to love selflessly. We are given an opportunity to selflessly serve another – and to learn the value of serving others. We learn again the value of taking in a stranger, of clothing the naked, of feeding the hungry, of caring for the sick, of embracing the lonely, of advocating for the disadvantaged.

'At the head of things' I am reminded that life is intrinsically valuable. And that underneath the soiled clothes of our humanity, each of us, laid bare, has within us the potentiality of the divine…and only selfless service one to another has the power to bring it out. Breathe deeply new parents – it is the 'breath of life.'

[The Divine] breathed the breath of life into the [human's] nostrils, and the [human] became a living person – Genesis 2:7b (NLT with liberties)