Helpless

I remember leaving the hospital, with the first of our four children.  I must admit, I was pretty clueless as to what it meant to be a father.  Contrarily, the nurses must have had some idea of my inadequacies as I was mandated to engage in countless classes and videos teaching me to change diapers, care for infants and properly buckle the required 5 point harness for the approved car seat.  Despite coming to a place of mastery with the 5 point harness, being able to secure the buckle with one hand while cradling the baby and a hot cup of coffee in the other without spilling a drop, I still felt relatively helpless as a father.

 I recall walking into the house with our new baby girl thinking, “Now what? I have no idea what I am doing. I feel utterly helpless!”

Irony struck me then, as I took her into her room for the first time.  As helpless as I felt, the child that I was now tucking into her crib…(tucking without blankets or anything soft, comfy or squishy, because I learned of their dangers on a lengthy VHS cassette), I realized that this young life was absolutely helpless.  She could not eat on her own, move on her own, change clothes on her own and disappointingly…not able to change her diapers on her own.

I would spend the next 21 years helping this girl to not be helpless…and yet, I see what Jesus says in Matthew 19:13-15, where he again references children.  Culturally speaking, the children at this time, as well as in many ways our cultures today, are helpless.  It is this very characteristic, that Jesus seems to be pointing toward!  Does Jesus really want us to be helpless?  I many ways, I think that the answer is yes.  I think that it is in our helplessness, that we find our deepest realizations for our need for help.  We are in fact desperate for a helper because we are truly helpless.  We are helpless in meeting our deepest spiritual needs.

May we come to see our own helplessness...and the helper is there for us…to take care of our spiritual needs.