Part Two of the “Children — Blessings or Burdens?” Series
In part one of this series I wrote about a common misunderstanding concerning children — namely that they are a blessing (or a good thing) only insofar as they are wanted. Certainly, recognizing the falsity of this idea is a fine place to start, but it’s not the same as understanding the truth. So then, back to the question: Are children a blessing? Are they always a good thing? A story will help me to articulate my thoughts on the matter.
Once there was a violin maker who was passionate about his art. It was his grandfather who first showed him how to pick out the best spruce trees in the forest to use for tone wood. He would cut the wood during the winter when the trees were dormant in order to get the best sound from a violin. After carefully cutting a spruce into cylinders, the patient luthier allowed the wood to season and age for several years.
Finally it would be time to measure and cut the pieces for a violin. Chiseling and planing, hour after hour, day after day, he would watch the body of the instrument take shape. Weeks were spent in measuring, fitting, heating, gluing, clamping, and filing before he was ready to set the sound post. Although he knew exactly where to place this tiny piece to bring out the treble timbre of an instrument, he also knew that no two violins ever sang the same.
In good time a scroll was carved, always with some uniquely beautiful design. The ebony pegs were rounded and smoothed to fit the contour of his own thumb and forefinger. Strings made from sheep gut, stretched, dried, and twisted to perfection, would be fitted into place. All was done with love, looking forward to the time when he would play the instrument and hear its individual voice.
The stick to be used for the bow would need much gentle coaxing before its shape and curvature could support the tension of the horse hair bow strings. This finished, a violin was ready to start making music.
And so it happened with the new violin. This one was particularly dear to the luthier, as it had accompanied him through a difficult time in his life. It had been a friend during many lonely hours.
The morning came for the finished violin to be played. What was the man’s horror then to come into his shop only to find it had been vandalized. Sorrow pierced his heart as he looked down and beheld the new violin upon the floor. The instrument had been broken in two; its strings were cut. The poor violin maker stood dumbfounded, trying to realize what he was seeing. Slowly he knelt down and gathered the pieces to his heart; all he could do was shake his head in disbelief and whisper, “An enemy has done this.”
This is where my story ends and where each child of Adam and Eve begins.
Are children good? Wounded individuals, with a fallen nature, who have lost God’s gift of grace, and are unable to fulfill the purpose for which they are made – are they good? Yes, they are.
Interestingly enough, the fundamental goodness of babies comes from their being people. Although they are especially dear people because of their innocence and vulnerability, because they represent so beautifully how man stands before God — naked, helpless, and needy — all of these qualities are secondary. The most basic reason that infants are good is the same reason that you and I are good — because God has loved us into existence.
At the moment of conception, God acts directly, creating each immortal soul and giving every new individual its personhood with some small reflection of His Own infinite goodness. As disfigured and degraded as a man might be in his spiritual, mental, bodily, and emotional integrity, from the first instant of life, he is still inexpressibly precious to God, Who created him with intention and care, in His own image and likeness. It is God’s love for us that makes us so valuable. And instead of wanting to throw us “broken violins” out, the Divine Luthier desires to see us restored. In fact, He is willing to lay down His life to redeem us.
If being wanted by parents or society is not the thing that gives value to life, being wanted by God is. And every person created is wanted by God. There are no mistakes or accidents when He creates, even if there seem to be accidental or problematic conceptions from our vantage point. There is nothing that can force God to breath an immortal soul into a body — He only does so when He wants to. When children know that they are wanted and loved, they grow to be strong and secure individuals. Stay tuned for more on this.
Picture is entitled: Ručna izrada violine, od strane penzionera Žarka Trifunova iz Vršca; By Julija.sekulic – Own work, CC0, Link
