A new light....

"Brave Helios, wake up your steeds, bring the warmth the countryside needs..."

The Day Begins

Moody Blues

Yesterday, the world became a little brighter. A little better. New light has appeared. My first grandson was born late in the day. Am I saying that the birth of this new baby will bring a light brighter than any other baby born? Absolutely not. But like all who are born, his light will be unique and exciting.

One of the things I have learned as I have aged is a simple axiom -  we do all of us shine a light. We all matter. In this crazy, sometime mixed up world, it is our light, ourselves, which can make profound differences in other lives. Yes, it truly is the Butterfly Effect. The great multiplier. God has graced us all with power, this unique power used as a special gift to affect lives. To affect change. To change the world, if only by a small measure. 

Yesterday, when my son-in-law put his hand on my grandson's head, the baby stopped crying. His face, all squished up like a prune, was trying to figure out what had just happened to him. All of a sudden, he had been thrust into this new world of light and sound. Then for the first time, he opened his eyes. To look at his world. This brave new world he would live in, he would dwell in. Yesterday he saw the world as a blank page, an empty canvas, just waiting for him to leave his mark.

What I would like to tell him when he is old enough is simply this - the saying "life is a journey and not a destination" is most certainly true. If we look at life as only a destination, it is pretty bleak. We all know where life ends. But the journey is where his stories will be written. Where people live, whose lives he will impact. The people who in turn will have an impact on him.

I will also tell him the most important thing in this world is love. It is God's greatest gift to us. God commanded us to love each other with the same fierceness we love ourselves. To love others, and also love God. The rest will fall into place. Part of love is kindness. Some will know him by deeds he does, but all will know him by his kindness. I know he will be raised in a house bathed in kindness. And kindness is very contagious. My prayer for my grandson is that he will model his kindness after his parents.

New light, new life. And most of all, new hope. Welcome to the world little man. Exciting times await you. Life will not always be easy, but it will always be worth it. Enjoy the journey.