Babies

As I sat in church today, I watched people’s reactions to the baby a couple of rows in front of me. Almost everyone who walked by smiled at her, reached out to her, or made some sweet comment about her. Soon, another couple with a newborn baby came in and sat right in front of me and the same thing happened. And when the baby started fussing, people just looked over and smiled like it was the most precious thing they had ever heard. The crazy thing is that most of these people have never seen these babies before…they didn’t know the parents…they had no previous connection or relationship. Yet, they treat them with such love.

Babies possess this amazing, unexplainable magnetism. People can’t stay away from them. And people will do almost anything to make them (or keep them) happy.

As I observed all of this, I started to wonder when that all stops. At what age do people stop responding that way to kids? And why?

What if we treated everyone the way we treat babies? I’m not saying we should talk baby talk and pinch each other’s cheeks, but what if we smiled at everyone we met? What if we complimented each other and encouraged each other and were always excited to see each other (even people we didn’t know)? What if we loved unconditionally and did everything we could to help make each other’s lives better?

Instead of being quick to comfort those who are hurting and to meet their needs (like we do for babies), we are all too quick to turn away or ignore their cries for help.

What if we changed our perspective? How would it change the way we live?