Daybreak on Christmas day was spectacular. The glittering golden beams broke the horizon with an explosion of color. How appropriate on the anniversary of the birth of the world’s most famous baby; the baby born in a manger; the baby who grew into a man who would bear the sins of His people upon a cross.
No matter whether you believe in this tradition, you can’t deny the mystery and magnitude of the feeling which takes hold of a parent upon the birth of their child. “Nothing like it,” one would say. “I thought I knew love when I married my spouse, but I had yet to lay eyes upon my child.” The magical relationship between parent and off-spring is undeniable and universal.
Yet for a generation or more, the west has argued against children, against large families and the hubbub that surrounds them. Too expensive. That’s the first objection. Some sort of calculation which tallies the dollars necessary to raise and educate a child. Stratospheric.
Too time consuming! Babies will change your life. True. But I don’t see how it is a bad thing to be transformed from a self-consuming single to a service provider to the next generation. Those sweet babies who, when you are 75, 80, 90 plus years of age, will be responsible for the upkeep of the world.
You will have to forgo your career, your passion, your ambitions! Maybe you could manage with one, but certainly not more. A combo of one child to two parents is doable. But a family would be too great a sacrifice. Then the children control the agenda not the adults.
And on it goes. It’s not the right time; they are not the right sort of parents; there are already too many people in the world! Reasons not to pursue the one extraordinary and unrelenting bond in the world- the love between a parent and a child.
A college educated adult maybe employed from the age of 22 to age 66, or over a 44-year time frame. To get a gaggle of kids through the high intensity young-years time of life might round into twelve or fifteen years. Then they are off with friends freeing up time for other pursuits. A third of the working career years are laden with child duties. Seems like a fair trade for help in the senior years, rather than a sacrifice.
Children are beneficial in the long game. We can find all sorts of motives behind a generation who only considered the short term. But that doesn’t matter now. It’s a new day and the beauty and mystery and enduring love between parent and child is a premise to hold onto.
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