Must Read!

Last updated on: August 17, 2010 at 9:26 pm by Sarah Babbs

Must Read! 2010-08-17T21:26:23-04:00 Sarah Babbs

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I am a fan of Mark Shea. He generally writes for National Catholic Reporter, and I basically always like what he writes. But his most recent article at Inside Catholic, celebrating the birth and life of his granddaughter Lucy, is by far the best thing of his that I have read.

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“Exactly a year ago today, our oldest son, Luke, and his wife, Tasha, presented to the world the inimitable Lucy Beatrice Shea. (In fairness, Luke couldn’t have done it without Tasha. And, in hasty self-defense, I add that Tasha is a really good sport who enjoys a good laugh about labor and won’t, I am pretty sure, kill me for saying that.)

Born on a Monday, Lucy is properly fair of face, according to the wisdom of the old rhyme. Her round little head, her red hair, her great wide eyes drinking in everything, her adorable button nose, and her great big nearly toothless smile all conspire to light up her pale porcelain complexion with a radiance that is especially visible to delighted grandpas.

Lucy is a little girl of magnificent accomplishments. Her Apgar scores were through the roof, indicating an Ivy League or American Idol future (that is, if she isn’t the first woman on Mars). Also, she does a killer Maggie Simpson impression. Some see a future for her in modeling, but I think she’s too deep and spiritual for such a shallow life.

At her baptism, she was cleansed of original sin, of course. But there wasn’t all that much of it to start with. She loves God as much as a one year old knows how and continues to grow with His help. Indeed, since then, it’s been onward and upward in the whole “growing in grace and stature and in the favor of God and man” department. She goes from glory to glory. For instance, she can wave. She also knows how to say, “Hi!” And she can drop things overboard and say, “Uh oh!” When you dutifully fetch the dropped thing, she drops it again and says, “Uh oh.” This is a game we can play for hours.”

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And if hearing him wax poetic about his lovely granddaughter isn’t enough for you to go and read the whole article (and I’m pretty sure if it’s not you might be soulless), here’s another nugget from further down in the article.

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“Now the amazing and puzzling thing for me, as a Millennial American, is that none of these skills and abilities are considered “marketable” in our culture, and therefore I have no way of explaining why it is that Lucy should be permitted to sponge off society as she does. Indeed, from a socioeconomic perspective, Lucy is an enormous drain on resources. She takes and takes and gives nothing of practical value in return (although Science may soon find a use for her one consistent product). And experts with whom I have consulted inform me that she will continue to behave this way for nearly 20 years. I suspected as much, since my own kids likewise seem to be taking a very long time to earn the right to live in our production-based culture. One of them is 13 and still has shown no sign of promise as a serious wage earner. All he does is go to school on our dime. And he is but the latest in a pattern: None of our children has so far given back anything like what has been invested in them.

I am told that that some people — right-to-lifers, Catholics, other such backward knuckle-draggers — hold a radically different view of Lucy and other such useless eaters. It turns out that the Church says that a human being like Lucy is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake,” and that he or she alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God’s own life. It was for this end that Lucy was created, and this is the fundamental reason for her dignity.

That stuff about existing, not as the means to an end, but for her own sake, just because it is good that she exists and not because she might someday be a useful cog in an economic system or a powerful player who can shovel other human beings around like concrete . . . that’s a real different way of seeing things from our predominant cultural trends.

And yet it certainly explains a lot. It explains why we love babies sort of like God loves us: not because they do something to earn it, but because love is for persons and God (who is Love) is for us, the creatures in His image and likeness. It explains why we endure a lifetime of loving our babies whatever heartache or tragedy may come, and sometimes go down willingly to the bitter end, like Christ crucified, for the love of our children. Other animals just eat their young if they get too troublesome — surely an efficient use of resources that are a net drain on productivity. But I rather prefer the human way.”

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May I be willing to endure heartache or tragedy, or God forbid be crucified, for love of our daughter. I just love this entire article, pro-life in every sense of the world. Please go read the whole thing here!

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