With everything that has to happen in the womb, it is surprising that someone was born.
~ Coleman Haggerty, PC ~
William was born in the usual way to the delight of his family, relatives and friends. He appeared as a beautiful baby and everyone rejoiced. On his second day of life, a nurse found him gray and crying in a high-pitched tone that indicates distress. His caregivers went into emergency mode and immediately transferred him to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Staff monitored him closely and ran tests to rule out the most likely reasons for his distress. All tests were normal. He stabilized and went back to looking and acting like a healthy baby.
When a baby is born, we all wait or at least hope that no difficulties will arise. When a crisis arises for a newborn, we are suddenly faced with the fragility of life. Babies are delicate and need a lot of protection. We all accept that. But how do we react when a baby is faced with an unknown threat? We want to do what we can, but we don’t know what we can do. We are left to depend on medical experts and prayers to God to help the baby through the crisis.
I once heard a sermon from Father Brendan Breen reminding us that everything we do spreads throughout the world with effects on everyone. Obviously, we do not directly affect the whole world. What we do, good or bad, affects those who come in contact with us. Our actions affect those who are in contact with us and modify their outlook on life and their actions towards others, again for better or for worse. Then those we have affected pass on to others what they have gained or lost from their experience with us. That way we are all connected, although we will never meet most of the people we indirectly affect.
As I just mentioned, we tend to see babies as fragile and helpless. However, William has already had a powerful effect on many people, most of whom you will never meet. As news of his distress spread from his family to relatives and friends, other people who were told about him had the opportunity to direct their thoughts and prayers in his direction. All of these people had the opportunity to consider the fragility, wonder, and connection to others that we all share.
Thank you William for helping all of us stay connected and human. Good health to you. We look forward to seeing the rest of your life enrich us.
Lessons from Life Lab
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Treasure the lives of your loved ones.
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Show them that you care whenever you get the chance.
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Take care of yourself. You are precious to others.
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Take care of people you don’t know when you get the chance.
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Remember that we are all part of the human community.