"Spend time in your life building a home
in your heart. A house has no character..."
- Anonymous
After telling her little boy the story of how Hannah had given her son to the old priest Eli to raise, and after she let him know he too was a gift from God, she began a story about babies when they were born.
The old fellow had not heard this story, at least he couldn’t remember that he had. So, he settled in to watch and listen as his mother spoke to her child.
*
Tommy, arrived on the planet, I suppose, like most little boys do, having no idea what had just happened! If he had been able to say anything, he would have said he was exhausted and hurt all over.
Adding to this, and for no apparent reason, it was bright and cold…real cold. And it was noisy. He didn’t know why. He actually didn’t know anything. All he had sensed before this, and it wasn't much, was comfort, quiet, warmth, and plenty to eat. Something was terribly wrong!
Oh yeah, and he was hungry. He couldn’t say he was hungry; he couldn't say anything but somehow just knew, or better said, felt an aching feeling that was brand spanking new. In fact, there was a literal spank that took his breath away—again better said, gave him breath because that was new, too; he gasped. What!? How did that happen?
He had no idea this was the first inspiration of his life. It just happened…the BIG BREATH I mean. And that’s how the whole thing started. You could imagine, if even you could remember or imagine what a weird, astonishing thing that first breath was.
A small piece of good news, he felt a sudden warmth. It wasn’t exactly what he had known, but it felt much better than when this thing first started. He didn’t know at the time it was his mother’s skin, who by the way was also exhausted.
All of this was too much! He needed to get home, but that might have to wait because he was on overload and, at the moment, really hungry.
There were other things. Tommy was wiggling around. He didn’t know how...he just was. Like before he got here, he could hardly wiggle at all. After that big breath, he took others in and out and made the oddest sounds. He would have to learn to get used to this.
He didn’t know he had eyes or ears or feely things on his body. Shoot, he didn’t know he had a body with arms and legs and fingers and toes. He only knew (felt) he was somewhere strange and at the moment very uncomfortable. Did I mention he was hungry?
That’s when, on that warm skin, he found a place to eat. It was his mother’s breast. At least he wasn’t really cold, and found he wasn’t as hungry.
He didn't know it then, and despite his desire to return to the 'no care world' he had just left, it would be a long time before he understood this confusing place into which he found himself was actually meant to help him return home. Yes, for him, dare I say, for all of us, it would be a very long time.
Time, hmm…
For Tommy, of course, there was no time, there was no space. So, for the sake of the reader, as the very early days passed, there were new things just about everywhere he turned, or wiggled, as it were.
You see, like all new arrivals, he didn't have many items in his bag of tools. He didn’t even know he had a kit…but he did and inside there were two things: faith and curiosity. Like the breathing and wiggling, they were a part of the package.
Tool 1: Faith…
Faith is the thing that we come with that is of kind of like glue. It builds a body of belief…it helps us hold on to consistent ideas and experiences. Of course, Tommy didn’t know about any of that, he was just trying to get by.
For him, after he began to warm up a little, the first thing he believed in was the nipple. At the start, he needed a little help, but man, was he glad he found that thing. It was pretty strange, but most of the time, when he had that achy feeling, the nipple showed up. It had stuff in it that made him feel better and he latched on to it as if his life depended on it. And of course, it did.
Even stranger, Tommy learned to tell when that thing was coming before it even showed up. He would get a feeling it would be there. And you know what? It almost always was. The ‘glue’ was on automatic pilot and doing its job.
As it turns out, he would learn that handy feeder was his mom. And even more unbelievable that he was deposited on the planet from her. Course, like all these other things happening to him, he would know that later.
Tool 2: Curiosity
The reason this item comes along with faith in the tool kit is that they work together as a team…like peanut butter and honey (this writer’s favorite). Sometimes faith starts a deal and curiosity adds to it, and sometimes curiosity gets the ball rolling and faith just jumps in to make sure it builds stronger belief. Curiosity might whisper an idea…a small one, ‘cause Tommy was still figuring things out. Then Tommy would check it out…building a little room inside his mind to help him along.
The boy couldn’t feel it yet, but he was beginning to get the impression that survival in this place meant doing and learning new things. The best part was that he was having fun most of the time.
Well, there was that warm and cold stuff that showed up between his mouth and those feet things. It wasn't too much fun. It seemed to appear a lot, and even though he wasn’t crazy about it, he got used to it. The first few times it was weird ‘cause he’d get turned upside down, rubbed a little and then things would go back to normal.
Soon by using those first two items in his kit, he learned he was ready to look around a little more.
“And, that my dearest young man," the little boy's mother said."This is what happens when babies are born." My mother knew it was enough for the time being.
*
The scene with the old fellow’s mother and her five-year-old son slipped away, and it was just two of them.
“Thanks, Mum," the old man said. "this was so good.”
She put her arms around him, kissed him on the cheek, and said, “That’s what it was like when Tommy…you, arrived in our lives.”
And with that, she was gone and the old fellow found himself alone.
Without getting into all the details, it wasn't until these later years he understood it was the power of faith and curiosity that led to the most extraordinary of lives.
*
That evening, as he sat watching the western face of the mountains light up with reflected sunlight, he looked back on the day. The visit from his mother and the memories of his youth stirred a deep appreciation for his journey. By now, the sun was getting ready to set. Like sunrise in the mornings, it wasn’t really setting, the earth was just rolling away from it.
And so it was with the old fellow’s life. It had begun with muted and unclear colors, that took on a vibrancy of the day’s light. Now, like the earth at sunset, life as he knew it was rolling away. But before it slipped beyond the horizon, the beauty of the sky and his life, reminded him of all that had been given. It was now he knew as he had so much desired when he first arrived…
The old fellow finally understood, after all this time...
He was on his way home.
- ted
