Mysteries

We found out today that one of Karen’s friends, expecting a baby late this year, has had their baby diagnosed with a fatal heart disease. The baby may die before birth and will not live long (minutes, hours?) . Her friend is hoping for a live birth so she can at least hold and comfort her son in his brief visit to this world.

It is a sad situation and although she and her husband seem to be handling it well I’m sure praying for them and their baby is in order.

I’m sure Karen, in the late stages of a normal pregnancy, understands what her friend is feeling from a poignant personal perspective.

They say “God works in mysterious ways” and “some good will come from this” but at the point in time when one of these mysterious actions is occurring there is much grief, pain and questioning. I find it quite mysterious that many who don’t wish to be pregnant seem to get that way easily. Is irresponsibility a strong indication of fertility? I also see all the children being born to starving people or AIDs victims in Africa with little hope of surviving.

Then I see the opposite situation that Karen’s friend, someone who would provide a loving, safe and nourishing environment, is experiencing. All of us know people like this who also have difficulty conceiving a baby. God’s standards are obviously different and we can’t understand why.

Can a baby with Original Sin, unbaptised, go to heaven? The Catholic Church and Christian religion as a whole had to do a lot of scrambling to provide answers to this dilemma.

My mother and relatives never seemed to have a problem having children. Growing up I thought that the problem was rare. I have since learned differently. We all are reminded how tenuous life is and that we have beaten odds bigger than those against us for winning the lottery by just achieving life. We know we should cherish every second, every breath as a miracle yet we somehow take much of living for granted. We waste precious time that billions upon billions of other potential candidates simply did not have the opportunity to experience. We get wrapped up in pettiness instead of appreciating what we have. Maybe God made us this way because if we actually could fathom the evanescence of life we would all go crazy—or maybe we have done just that.

It always brings me back to the “appreciate what you have” mind frame. We don’t know what tomorrow holds. It also reinforces how unique and precious and yes, even miraculous each person is. (including those we may dislike).

So cherish the people you love. I know that Sophie and baby#2, already precious to Karen, are seen as even more precious and also tenuous.

I am deeply saddened for Karen’s friend. I can’t imagine how she feels or where she gets her strength. We are proof that miracles happen. I pray for her and her family and maybe in His mysterious way God will decide another miracle is in order. Maybe he will let that baby win the lottery of life and at least have a few precious minutes to feel the warmth of his mothers arms and sense her deep love for him before passing on to the next place.