When Things Just Don't Add Up

"Can I hold her?", "She is such a pretty baby", "Touch head, no, no".  These were a few of the comments made by my six, four and two-year-old sons as my wife and I brought our new baby girl home from the hospital.  With bright eyes and wide grins all three of them, along with my wife and I, sat in amazement at that new little life.  Something occurred to me as I was watching all three of them on the couch and thinking about what we were all holding in our hands.  What exactly did we bring home?

I know that sounds like a pretty silly question, especially from a man who has three children already, but after some more thought it's not only a good question, but an absolutely essential one.  Contemporary culture in the United States is being driven more and more strongly by a secular mindset.  Secular has been defined as that condition where religious ideas, institutions and interpretations have lost their social significance.  In other words, religion is seen to be outdated and the overt attempt is being made to systematically expunge it from all areas of life: politics, education, media, and on and on.

Changing over to a secular society, however, does not come without ramifications.  And so we come back to the question at hand, what exactly did we bring home?  I have spoken with many non-theists, or anti-theists and those who are most consistant with their beliefs have confirmed the outworking of the exclusion of a Biblical-Christian worldview.  According to the antitheist what my wife and I brought home was simply a successfull procreative attempt where our genetic material was passed on to another homonidic organism.  Further, the only obligation my wife and I have to that organism is to provide just enough food, shelter and care necessary for future procreation, with the only boundaries being those set by local law enforcement and current societal norms.

Don't we all know that that explanation of a new child's life must be absolutely wrong?  Even modern movie-makers see how short that understanding falls.  Think of the number of movies where the protagonist is a hit-man, a tough cop or just a doggedly independent man whose whole life changes because of the introduction of a child into his life.  Isn't it undeniable that children are more than just a bundle of biological drives and reactions, more than just successors of genetic material?  We know that is the case, but what is the explanation?

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."          Jeremiah 1:5

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  And even the hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."           Matthew 10:29-31

These are familiar passages which, along with countless others in scripture, tell us that we are more than just a mindless collocation of atoms, more than just genetic materials on this earth by pure chance.  She is my daughter, she is a miracle.  What my wife and I brought home, that has changed all our lives, is a precious gift from Almight God who we are to be caretakers over and have been instructed to train up to be a woman of God.  We are to love her, care for her, and provide for her as a faithful steward, or caretaker, of the precious gift that she is.  This has been the case for each of our four children.  As a structural engineer who delights in the consistancy of mathematics, in this case one plus one plus one plus one amounts to more than just four.