On NPR's annual Tinsel Tales today, I heard a Modern Day Mary & Joseph by Scott Simon. It was clever and heartwarming, of course, but it struck a deeper chord with me when I heard Simon's version of how "Joseph" comes to understand what this little baby, "Jesus," means:
"I think I finally understand," he said. "Why we're here. Why we've been given the gift of this child.
"It doesn't matter who the father is, does it? Every child born cries for our love and deserves our care. Every child who's hungry in Sudan or Louisiana or Indonesia. Every little girl who's abandoned by the roadside in China. Every little boy in Uganda who's dragged into somebody's army while he's still not as tall as the gun they put in his arms. Every teenager who never seems to take off their ear buds. Every little boy and girl anywhere who's threatened by a bomb, an epidemic, a bullet or a storm. I must love them as a father loves his child."
Mary and Joseph sat with their arms around each other and around their baby boy. [...] The star that had found them seemed to stay above them for a moment. While their child breathed softly and safely and peacefully in their arms, looking out at a world that seemed suddenly new.
For me, this says it all. I am not a religious person and I don't believe in God. But what Joseph describes in the story is how many mothers and fathers begin to view the world after having a child. It is a humbling reminder that our children aren't just ours. They belong to the world. They belong to all of us. Whatever our differences, political and idealogical, each of us should do our part to ensure that all children everywhere are warm and safe and peaceful.
Happy Holidays.
Listen to Modern Day Mary and Joseph on NPR.
Cross posted on Lawyer Mama.
LM, I love this post. My husband has experienced exactly the sort of eye-opening since we had our son in March. Even for cranky old men (or Dick Cheney), he remarks about how amazing it is to realize that each person was someone else's baby once upon a time.
I clicked through to your post about God, by the way. It resonates with me. Unlike you, I grew up believing in God; my parents didn't teach me critical thinking as yours did you. Instead, I learned the beginnings of critical thinking in college, and finally admitted (first to myself, later more openly) that I don't believe when I was 35. Two years later, I'm comfortable with it, even though there are times I wish I did believe. One nitpick about it: I believe you mistake what the word "atheist" means. Contrary to what some would say, atheism does not involve a positive statement about believing that there is no god; it merely means that I don't believe there is a god. It's a subtle difference, but IMO an important one.
Posted by: Allison | December 23, 2008 at 08:48 AM
I am going to go out on a limb here. I have discovered that a personal assertion of faith in God is not awe inspiring declaration amongst most progressives. However, I am bound to speak my truth as are my agnostic friends. To me there is a vast difference between a belief in God and an embrace of religion. Religion is cultural and man made. Unfortunately for Christians the cultural face of religion in the United States is tooky and not in a good way. Belief in God is an "is"... much like breathing. I can declare I don't need or want oxygen but my protestations do not make oxygen any less necessary to my future survival. So the world began with a bang ... what came before the bang? So I evolved from a microscopic amoeba where did the amoeba come from and what came before it. The complexitity of the world screams designer to my logical mind. I may not understand how a computer chip can hold vast quantities of data but that does mean an engineer did not design it. What about emotions? I can see how one could explain away the conception process as a mindless evolutionary mechanism but why would emotions like joy, embarrassment, grief, anger, jealousy, and pride exist spontaneously as a part of some unguided evolutionary process? It is illogical. To believe so would require me to take on the same mind set as the folks who insisted the earth was flat. I don't claim to understand it all and I'll admit the vastness of the idea is hard to wrap my mind around. Being a believer is made even more difficult by the chest thumpers who enjoy hearing their fortune cookie sermons in a basketball arena. However, the fact that some people choose to denigrate the vastness of God with their trite bumper stickers does not change the truth. I believe that God the Father and God the Holy Spirit watched as God the Son came to earth to help mankind find a way out of the cess pool we made of their creation. We have free will. No amount of force can push someone to the truth. I only pray that the designer of this complicated world will help me separate the crapola from the truth so that i can fully appreciate the grace behind my continued existence on this earth.
Posted by: Girl Esquire | December 23, 2008 at 11:10 PM
Beautiful post, LM. As the Pastafarians would say, "Ra-men."
Yes, it's hard to believe in other people--especially when we see what cruelty and indifference we as a species are capable of when it comes to other humans--but I'm filled with wonder and gratitude that people DO show unexpected kindness and go out of their way to assist, comfort, and tend to complete strangers.
I hope we can find the social will to keep enlarging this belief in each other, for the betterment of all.
Posted by: cynematic | December 25, 2008 at 03:28 AM
I'm a Christian.
I'm a critical thinker.
I'm a man of deep faith, and a religious vocation for education.
I really wish most people felt the way that your Mary and Joseph do... but they don't really. Do they?
The shame of the world... and for the sake of informing some of the commenters here, please don't paint all Christians with the same brush. We don't all think the same way. Just like you non-believers aren't all a bunch of dope smoking devil worshiping hippies.
Right?
Posted by: Gunfighter | December 27, 2008 at 06:07 PM
This is a late enough response, I'm unsure anyone will even see it, but here goes just the same:
@Gunfighter and @Girl Esquire -- What, from either LM's post or my response, gave you the impression that we were saying anything about Christians? I know that all I talked about was my experience, no more, no less. Believe it or not, my background was strongly Christian (for better and for worse), and I am personally acquainted with many Christian folks whom I consider amazing people. I just don't happen to share their beliefs.
What I find odd (and interesting) is how many people of faith consider anyone's statement of personal disbelief to be an attack against them. You have your faith and your belief. I'm cool with that. I even like you guys a lot (when I have the time to read at Momocrats)!
Posted by: Allison | January 04, 2009 at 09:03 AM
Allison,
Maybe I read you wrong. It looked to me like you were saying that if you were a critical thinker earlier, you would have stopped believing sooner. Would that not suggest that you think that if one is a critical thinker, then you would quit believing?
In any event, if that isn't what you meant, then it isn't.
Posted by: Gunfighter | January 11, 2009 at 04:14 PM