Babies

There has recently been an addition to my church membership: twins have been borned to my violin senior and his wife. It is a happy occasion, but the reactions of the people to this have made me wonder about babies -- Why do they draw people's attention so greatly? The following article does not include the parents, for they love their children. This refers to the people who are strangers to the babies, as the attention they shower on the babies may be laden with secret motives.

Perhaps the innocent eyes, proclaiming helplessness, appeals greatly to people's need for power. The insistent want to hold the babies suggest that something that surpasses love is at work. Babies need care and attention, and the ability to carry them without evident struggles is always a reassurance of acceptance. The carrier is powerful, for he holds the most precious treasure of the child's parents.

Evidence of this can always be seen in groups of people who are near babies. When someone lifts the baby, everyone else waits with bated breath. They remain silent, for selfishness is a vice, and they cannot show it. The baby cries, and immediately, the next person pulls the baby away from the first on the context that the baby does not like the carrier.

On the other hand, the baby may remain silent, and the people crowd around it, cooing and gurgling like a baby does. They are like the baby, and the baby would like them, they seem to suggest. Still, they are silent, waiting. After some time, when the people are assured that the carrier is hogging the baby, they voice out. The carrier, having no choice, passes the baby on, and the cycle continues.

Are babies symbols of power that people want without having to go through the pain of pregnancy? Are they toys to be passed around, to be chucked aside when bored? Babies need care, no doubt. Still, they do not have to be blinded by the limelight shone upon them. Give them space, let them experience falls. This is the best thing we, as strangers, can do for the babies we see.