Reaching for the Light - A Meditation on New Life
I became a grandfather in the summer of 15. It was like a second fatherhood; a second chance to get it right (although I do believe I was a pretty good Dad). But being a grandparent is special for the simple reason that you get all of the delights and very few of the fights! We are here to spoil him, as my son and daughter in law often remind us. Still, the joy is overwhelming. Just to watch him play and then grab me by the hand to come join him. "Pop", he says, with his still limited vocabulary, and I am there! With each visit there is something new to discover; a kind of time-lapse evolution unfolds before us. He is taller, his hair is shorter (we wish his parents would let it grow), his memory better than my own, his curiosity; limitless. I carefully observe the earnest innocence of the very young and I wish I could freeze just that in time. You smile and wonder what life has in store for him, and pray that his problems then are as small as he is now.
In the spring of 18, my second grandson joined our family. It is his picture you see above.
I. On the birth of my grandson!
Oh, what joy you inspire with
your timorous baby's cry.
Yours is a world of form and shadow;
of sounds distant but yet familiar.
Breathe in the soothing sharp air so light.
An innocence as pure and white, like
blossoms of Queen Anne's Lace swayed
in the warm summer breeze tonight.
Reaching and turning to our delight;
eyes still closed but always looking up.
You never stop reaching for the light!
ll. Though you could not see the smiles as
you kicked and jabbed with all your might,
you instinctively knew you were loved.
All swathed in cotton and lace,
you were passed from one to another.
A gift so precious and unique
in all the world, there can be found no other.
Helpless though you may be, you are perfection;
the latest edition of a glorious form.
Always reaching for the light!
lll. Circumstances of birth as provided by providence
and secured without question by all who love you.
My world is not your own; endeavor to make it better.
The time and tide of fate will light your path.
Reach out to your destiny with each passing year.
Always reaching for the light!
lV. Rocking in the sun, delicate as Queen Anne's Lace,
I wonder, as I gaze upon your gentle features,
where we both shall be sixty years hence, and I
pray with all my might, we are both in a better place.
You, in a world far more forgiving, among those you love,
and me among the memories.
Our time together will be brief, but you will know
my story as surely as you write your own.
Soon you will smile and walk and speak,
and see clearly what truths form in the light.
Never stop reaching for the light!