Someone’s child
My son recently celebrated his 48th birthday. Yet, my first mental image of him is of that tiny, beautiful baby his mother and I brought home from the hospital in Princeton, New Jersey or of the curly headed toddler whose photograph is on my nightstand. Even as he is this delightful, thoughtful, and creative adult whose company I enjoy he will always be my little boy. I am sure most parents feel the same. Every person was once a precious child even if their parents were themselves are not healthy enough to be emotionally present.
This is the season when Christians around the world celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus; that same baby some would come to think of as the wise teacher or even the son of God. Yet, Christmas is about the birth of this child.
Regardless of one’s religious beliefs most can relate to the celebration of the birth of a child.
Far too many of the babies born in this country will live with drug addiction, other mental illness, end up overdosing, becoming hopeless and committing suicide or end up in our jails and prisons labeled as criminals; as undesirables. Far too often we will cease to see the precious child clothed in an adult body – the precious child who have parents who wrapped them in swaddling clothes and carefully watched over them.
Many of the men and women for whom I work are or have been labeled as criminals, addicts or undesirables. Yet, each one is the child of parents who may be heartbroken; who may themselves be the adult precious child who is struggling financially, emotionally or spiritually to survive.
This morning, while at the gym, one of the podcasts to which I listened was the December 12, 2018 Fresh Air podcast, the host of which is Terry Gross. This podcast features a conversation with Keri Blakinger who is a criminal justice reporter for the Houston Chronicle. Ms. Blakinger was herself in prison for two years on a drug related charge. Prior to that she was a student at Cornell University who was acutely clinically depressed. Her depression began when her skating partner chose another skating partner. She could not imagine a world other than professional skating. She would begin to self-medicate and eventually attempt to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. She went to prison on drug related charges. Later she did return to Cornel, graduate and become a criminal justice reporter. She attributes part of her success to white privilege. Part of that white privilege was inherited from parents who had benefited from that same white privilege.
Clearly Ms. Blakinger is not only the adored child of parents she is also a bright privileged female who was able to move past her label of depressed person, criminal, and addict. Many are not able to move past the socially constrcted labels which have been assigned to them and whose “choices” have thus clothed them. Many are able to treat Ms.Blakinger as the sacred human that she is and not define her by illnesses or her experience as a convict.
The challenge for all of us living in these United States and everywhere in the universe is to see that everyone to whom we assign a socially constructed label and treat as such – criminal, mentally ill person, addict, refugee, illegal, terrorist, sociopath – is someone’s child; was once that precious newborn. The challenge is to treat “the least of these” as the sacred children of parents- to see that child rather than a label – to see the hope and promise of all those who struggle inside and outside our prisons – inside and outside of our places where we are “storing” the children of refugees who want their precious child to have a decent life. As we look at the images of the baby Jesus may our hearts open to all. All are children who deserve loving and tender care.
Written December 13, 2018
My son recently celebrated his 48th birthday. Yet, my first mental image of him is of that tiny, beautiful baby his mother and I brought home from the hospital in Princeton, New Jersey or of the curly headed toddler whose photograph is on my nightstand. Even as he is this delightful, thoughtful, and creative adult whose company I enjoy he will always be my little boy. I am sure most parents feel the same. Every person was once a precious child even if their parents were themselves are not healthy enough to be emotionally present.
This is the season when Christians around the world celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus; that same baby some would come to think of as the wise teacher or even the son of God. Yet, Christmas is about the birth of this child.
Regardless of one’s religious beliefs most can relate to the celebration of the birth of a child.
Far too many of the babies born in this country will live with drug addiction, other mental illness, end up overdosing, becoming hopeless and committing suicide or end up in our jails and prisons labeled as criminals; as undesirables. Far too often we will cease to see the precious child clothed in an adult body – the precious child who have parents who wrapped them in swaddling clothes and carefully watched over them.
Many of the men and women for whom I work are or have been labeled as criminals, addicts or undesirables. Yet, each one is the child of parents who may be heartbroken; who may themselves be the adult precious child who is struggling financially, emotionally or spiritually to survive.
This morning, while at the gym, one of the podcasts to which I listened was the December 12, 2018 Fresh Air podcast, the host of which is Terry Gross. This podcast features a conversation with Keri Blakinger who is a criminal justice reporter for the Houston Chronicle. Ms. Blakinger was herself in prison for two years on a drug related charge. Prior to that she was a student at Cornell University who was acutely clinically depressed. Her depression began when her skating partner chose another skating partner. She could not imagine a world other than professional skating. She would begin to self-medicate and eventually attempt to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge. She went to prison on drug related charges. Later she did return to Cornel, graduate and become a criminal justice reporter. She attributes part of her success to white privilege. Part of that white privilege was inherited from parents who had benefited from that same white privilege.
Clearly Ms. Blakinger is not only the adored child of parents she is also a bright privileged female who was able to move past her label of depressed person, criminal, and addict. Many are not able to move past the socially constrcted labels which have been assigned to them and whose “choices” have thus clothed them. Many are able to treat Ms.Blakinger as the sacred human that she is and not define her by illnesses or her experience as a convict.
The challenge for all of us living in these United States and everywhere in the universe is to see that everyone to whom we assign a socially constructed label and treat as such – criminal, mentally ill person, addict, refugee, illegal, terrorist, sociopath – is someone’s child; was once that precious newborn. The challenge is to treat “the least of these” as the sacred children of parents- to see that child rather than a label – to see the hope and promise of all those who struggle inside and outside our prisons – inside and outside of our places where we are “storing” the children of refugees who want their precious child to have a decent life. As we look at the images of the baby Jesus may our hearts open to all. All are children who deserve loving and tender care.
Written December 13, 2018
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