I know I should break up the seriousness with a funny story or a photo or something. But on this very somber and serious Friday when I received news of a friend's just-diagnosed Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and reading the news brings back remembrances of my childhood with Iranian hostages, gas lines, and anti-American demonstrations, I read this beautiful letter written by a brilliant friend, Leeann Walker Gibson, written to her unborn child. I was privileged to meet Leeann when she was on the brink of adulthood and I was her admissions counselor at Patrick Henry College in Virginia. That was years ago and now she is expecting her first child. This letter summed up so much of what I want to convey to my own children. This is my prayer for them too.
Dear precious child,
I wish I was bringing you into a perfect world, but I’m not. And I don’t think there’s been a time in your life thus far I’ve been more aware of this fact than this week.
There's plenty of crazy in this world to go around, and I've seen it for years in my chosen field of politics and policy. You'll come to see how people will prefer the easy way out, favor name-calling and demonizing to dialogue. Sometimes it is ridiculous to the point that it would be funny, were it not treated as a national past time that can divide family members and neighbors. Truly, it’s heart-wrenching, what people will do and say to each other under the banner of "freedom." It is not hard to tell the difference between honest policy debate and those who take politics to be a blood sport and are glad of it.
There is an even darker shade of this crazy, highlighted recently by events that occurred in your 29th week of life – events that took the lives of four American diplomats. Part of me doesn't know why I react so vehemently to these murders, when I know senseless deaths occur not just in remote corners of the world, but right here in our country, on a regular basis. Children starve, and starve to death. In the face of such darkness, I understand why people would ask why I would want to bring someone into this messed-up world.
The simple answer is that I don’t think the world’s problems are quite as complicated as some make them out to be. The very worst of this world – every indecency, all violence and abuse, rage and murder, dissent and discord all take root in a common moment – when a person or group of people fail to see the image of God in others, when respect for life because it is sacred ceases. Where there is no sense that every other person we encounter is created in the image of God, we begin to treat them as less than they are. For this reason, and that alone, have atrocities as murder and slavery – and the more accepted, everyday sins of pride and – ever found safe harbor. One of my favorite writers put it this way: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts,civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, andexploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”
I believe you can and will make a difference in this world if you believe this truth and behave accordingly. Never expect to change the fundamentals of humanity, which have hobbled on in their twisted, deformed state for more than six thousand years – but by all means, expect that you will be transformed and an agent for transformation if you submit your life to truth. You will not solve world hunger, but you will feed the hungry. You may not end greed,but you can inspire others with your generosity. You will not cause all war to cease, but you can be a peacemaker.
I wish I could explain it all, but I can't. What I do know is that Christ Himself is our peace, just as His Word promises. Sometimes He brings peace by speaking directly to your heart in times of trouble; sometimesit’s through a common grace, such as the beauty of a verdant river front dividing the blue sky from the deep blue river on a day that left you unsettled. His peace is real, and it’s bigger than all the darkness of the world, and that is why I can have confidence for your future and mine.
I bring you into the world not because I have hope for this world, but hope for what can be done in this world while we look forward to the next. I know you will encounter trouble and trial and see death and suffering in this life. I may try to shelter you from it, but I can't protect you from the reality of fallen humanity. You come into the world to be a light in dark places.
And though it won't always feel that way, being a light so simple, really. "Love your neighbor as yourself." See the fingerprints of God Almighty on your parents, your siblings, your friends, your classmates,your coworkers, your spouse, your children, strangers walking down the street, the homeless beggar on the corner, see His image on your enemies. And you will realize the folly of being short with a loved one, of making cruel jokes at the expense of another human being. You will realize that debate for debate's sake does not solve problems. You won't say things just because you were blessed to be born in a country that affords you that right; you will choose to say what is useful for edification and building up others. Hatred and bigotry will have no foothold in your heart or mind, because you see things - at least as much as you can this side of eternity - as they are.
Few others will see the world through this lens. Accordingly, they will not behave as you do. Don't expect them to. But share your light. Loving your neighbor opens doors for you to share why you are different. Don't just be a nice person. Be radical in your love toward your fellow immortals because of the love God has demonstrated toward you.
Turn the “how could your mother have brought you into this world?” question into, “why aren’t there more like you?”
Dear precious child,
I wish I was bringing you into a perfect world, but I’m not. And I don’t think there’s been a time in your life thus far I’ve been more aware of this fact than this week.
There's plenty of crazy in this world to go around, and I've seen it for years in my chosen field of politics and policy. You'll come to see how people will prefer the easy way out, favor name-calling and demonizing to dialogue. Sometimes it is ridiculous to the point that it would be funny, were it not treated as a national past time that can divide family members and neighbors. Truly, it’s heart-wrenching, what people will do and say to each other under the banner of "freedom." It is not hard to tell the difference between honest policy debate and those who take politics to be a blood sport and are glad of it.
There is an even darker shade of this crazy, highlighted recently by events that occurred in your 29th week of life – events that took the lives of four American diplomats. Part of me doesn't know why I react so vehemently to these murders, when I know senseless deaths occur not just in remote corners of the world, but right here in our country, on a regular basis. Children starve, and starve to death. In the face of such darkness, I understand why people would ask why I would want to bring someone into this messed-up world.
The simple answer is that I don’t think the world’s problems are quite as complicated as some make them out to be. The very worst of this world – every indecency, all violence and abuse, rage and murder, dissent and discord all take root in a common moment – when a person or group of people fail to see the image of God in others, when respect for life because it is sacred ceases. Where there is no sense that every other person we encounter is created in the image of God, we begin to treat them as less than they are. For this reason, and that alone, have atrocities as murder and slavery – and the more accepted, everyday sins of pride and – ever found safe harbor. One of my favorite writers put it this way: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts,civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, andexploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”
I believe you can and will make a difference in this world if you believe this truth and behave accordingly. Never expect to change the fundamentals of humanity, which have hobbled on in their twisted, deformed state for more than six thousand years – but by all means, expect that you will be transformed and an agent for transformation if you submit your life to truth. You will not solve world hunger, but you will feed the hungry. You may not end greed,but you can inspire others with your generosity. You will not cause all war to cease, but you can be a peacemaker.
I wish I could explain it all, but I can't. What I do know is that Christ Himself is our peace, just as His Word promises. Sometimes He brings peace by speaking directly to your heart in times of trouble; sometimesit’s through a common grace, such as the beauty of a verdant river front dividing the blue sky from the deep blue river on a day that left you unsettled. His peace is real, and it’s bigger than all the darkness of the world, and that is why I can have confidence for your future and mine.
I bring you into the world not because I have hope for this world, but hope for what can be done in this world while we look forward to the next. I know you will encounter trouble and trial and see death and suffering in this life. I may try to shelter you from it, but I can't protect you from the reality of fallen humanity. You come into the world to be a light in dark places.
And though it won't always feel that way, being a light so simple, really. "Love your neighbor as yourself." See the fingerprints of God Almighty on your parents, your siblings, your friends, your classmates,your coworkers, your spouse, your children, strangers walking down the street, the homeless beggar on the corner, see His image on your enemies. And you will realize the folly of being short with a loved one, of making cruel jokes at the expense of another human being. You will realize that debate for debate's sake does not solve problems. You won't say things just because you were blessed to be born in a country that affords you that right; you will choose to say what is useful for edification and building up others. Hatred and bigotry will have no foothold in your heart or mind, because you see things - at least as much as you can this side of eternity - as they are.
Few others will see the world through this lens. Accordingly, they will not behave as you do. Don't expect them to. But share your light. Loving your neighbor opens doors for you to share why you are different. Don't just be a nice person. Be radical in your love toward your fellow immortals because of the love God has demonstrated toward you.
Turn the “how could your mother have brought you into this world?” question into, “why aren’t there more like you?”
2 comments:
:)
Well said Leeann!
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