The child had been born...
Illustration
The child had been born severely distressed, lungs and kidneys barely functioning. The distressed parents had been warned to expect the worst as the baby was rushed to a neonatal facility in a larger city. In those first days, they faced the reality of the tragedy by checking the availability of gravesites in the family plot. Then, modern medical science and a lot of prayers prevailed. The child survived his traumatic entrance into the world and lived and thrived.
When the boy was old enough to understand, his father devised a story of his birth, told casually, but expressing the danger and the fear that he wouldn't survive. He was also told of the parents' joy of the recovery from his physical ills which had plagued his first month on earth. It became the boy's favorite bedtime story. It was told with seriousness, but it also contained great laughter. Although it represented a threat to his life, it pointed out the positive element of his health and strength in the present.
Just as Israel told and retold the story of its deliverance in the, Exodus, so this child rejoiced in the retelling of his birth story.
When the boy was old enough to understand, his father devised a story of his birth, told casually, but expressing the danger and the fear that he wouldn't survive. He was also told of the parents' joy of the recovery from his physical ills which had plagued his first month on earth. It became the boy's favorite bedtime story. It was told with seriousness, but it also contained great laughter. Although it represented a threat to his life, it pointed out the positive element of his health and strength in the present.
Just as Israel told and retold the story of its deliverance in the, Exodus, so this child rejoiced in the retelling of his birth story.
