WITH A BABY IN MY ARMS

It’s transformational…. that moment you’re handed a baby. Your voice is softer and your protective nature takes over. Intensity is muted and most often you’re either smiling or wearing an empathetic expression on your face to soothe them. A loving spirit comes over you. Nothing else can change you so quickly as one so helpless, nestled in your arms.

A thought came swimming up to me and gave me pause. It was bizarre in a way, because it could never really happen…..but I thought….I wish it were so because things would be nicer, more friendly….not perfect of course…but softer, not so crazy, not so frenzied, not so hurtful and loud. Here’s the thought. The world would be a better place…..with a baby in your arms.

We live in a world of contention. It is emotionally, spiritually, intellectually and physically, a violent place. The disenfranchised, the elderly and children can be dismissed with a blink of an eye. There are the haves and have nots…and only one of the two are reasonably content. We’ve become virulent in our “being right” whether conservative, progressive, libertarian or whatever. We give no quarter. Ears are stopped, eyes are blind and hearts grow cold. We injure ourselves and others when we lash out to make our point.

I realize my tongue can be murderous at times. It is unseemly and without excuse. Over the years, I’ve used (though with quiet discretion) my weapons that wound… a quiver of words like…jerk, idiot, stupid, insane, etc. There are some that use a laundry list of expletives…. but mine aren’t any better than those. It’s my ego spouting off, not my intellect. Often, Instead of making a helpful point, we wield blades of faulty syllogism, and venomous rhetoric meant to demonize and make fun of those with whom there is disagreement. But really, that’s more about twisting the knife then anything else. We don’t think about this as malevolence really…but if we do…. we’re readily willing to administer ourselves immediate absolution.

We give in to our darker nature and excuse it all in the name of the greater good…. A greater good that varies from person to person. We say it’s just common decency we want, when we can’t even be decent to each other.

I need a baby in my arms.