Monday, August 12, 2013

Lessons from Cooper...Already

Lessons from Cooper...Already

Our first grandchild, Cooper was born 3 months ago, and I find it interesting the lessons I’m learning from him, already.  We kept him overnight for the first time this past weekend.  It was wonderful to watch his energy and to see him squirm and wiggle, his body constantly moving as if trying to break free and escape his current state of helplessness.  When he’s with us, his bright blue eyes constantly scan around the room, searching and exploring, it seems.  He appears to be in total wonderment.  Sometimes he settles his gaze into my face, or more likely my wife Bonnie who lovingly holds him for hours and hours on end.  As she rocks him in her arms, she constantly sings him silly songs, or gently calls his name, “Coooooper…I lovvvvvve you;” then he’ll focus on her for just a moment and then he smiles, nearly laughing, all the while continuing to flay his hands in the air, and kicking his feet out every which way. For that brief moment, he seems to acknowledge this love being offered to him.  He seems grateful, and maybe even a little amused, but then it’s off to other things like the ceiling fan, the television, or a spot in the corner…a friend of ours claims that corner is where his Guardian Angel is hovering about, keeping another pair of eyes on him.

This got me wondering: what is he thinking?  So, I did a Google search: “What do 3 month old babies think?”  And of course, no one knows for sure, but some of the sites that made the most sense to me indicated that the ever-developing babies’ brains are basically checking out this incredible new world, with limited capacity and experience, to process it all.  It’s obviously a dramatically different world from the one they came from in their mother’s womb, just a few short months back.

So, it seems to me, it would be kind of like taking a very young child, maybe 3 to 4 years old, from an ancient time, say thousands of years B.C. and plopping them into a modern suburban home.  What would such a child think of something so basic as 4 walls and a ceiling; bright lights from lamps; running water, electricity, TV’s, …this list is exhausting as you can imagine,  just as exhausted as would be the time traveling child’s mind trying to process all of these strange images and devices.  So, I think of Cooper’s journey, from the comfort of mom’s belly, into a strange new world in which we all find so familiar.

Jesus tells us that Heaven is beyond our imagination.  But, he also told folks, they were close to it as well.  One of my favorite images of Heaven is comparing it to a baby in the womb. Just like Cooper in his mother’s womb, there was a whole world outside of that place, with totally different sights, and sounds.  And yet, that world was close enough to almost touch it.  Sounds traveled from that outside world into the womb -Cooper heard sounds and voices of mom and dad, coming from somewhere.   

When Cooper was born, what a shock that must have been!  That warm, dark, intimate, quiet place was gone; out into a foreign world, with bright lights, cold hard surfaces, and strange-beings, poking and prodding! Put me back, he seemed to be screaming! But of course he couldn't be put back.  He had entered a whole new and wonderful world.  With loving parents, friends and family, he will come to know love and be loved. It’s a different world, unimaginable from inside the womb; unimaginable even as these three months have passed by.

I like to think of present-life like being in the womb of Heaven, or maybe even in God’s womb.  There are many things that my mind cannot completely comprehend. I hear whispers from God, and I see glimpses of God. I feel God’s presence in nature, in music, in love of family, friends, and even kind strangers.  This makes me feel Heaven is so close, I can almost touch it.  And if I consider the nearly infinite vastness of space surrounding our universe, the light years of distance between the known and the unknown, God must be in an adjacent world, right here in front of me, or Heaven must be really far away. But, it doesn't feel that distant.  God is too intimate for that.  

So, Cooper has reminded me, it’s up to me, to be as aware as I can, with my limited understanding of my place in God’s world, with my limited ability to understand God speaking to me, to trust, even though my mind wanders, my hands and feet are flaying, and I sometimes rebel with the feelings that I must know what's going on! I don't understand! I want more control! I need to remember much like my wife softly saying to Cooper, Cooooper....I lovvvvvve you... He's gently calling my name, and telling me how much he loves me. Cooper reminds me, I need to rest in the loving arms of God, who has been holding me all along.

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