Blessings

Blessings

A much loved baby rests in Cambodia.  A knife is placed near the baby for good-luck.  When my grandsons were born in Los Angeles their Cambodian grandmother was sure to carry on this tradition when the twin boys came home from the hospital. 

The world over, communities create rituals, and prayers as well as taboos to protect the newborn.  This rose out of the low rate of survival for under five children ,world wide.   In my travels, most midwives and mothers reported that the baby usually survived birth but did not always survive the first days, weeks or months of life.  

My adopted son’s s mother had 14 children. They all were born alive and well but four did not live to be five years old.  In the absence of scientific understanding all cultures explained these deaths as a part of life, as a result of war and poverty or as the work of an evil force. 

Unable to control poverty and war or even sanitation and food supply it is understandable that most cultures turned to small things to assure the well being of the baby.

The Catholic Church, for many years, taught that newborns had to be christened quickly in case they died and would not be allowed in heaven.   

In Cambodia, special  branches are hung by the doors and windows.  Often a knife or pair of scissors are placed by the newborn.   Red strings, blessed by the monks are tied to the baby’s wrist.   They reflect the love the community and parents have for their newborn and are wonderful traditions within the community.  

This week old baby receives a loving kiss from his big brother.  The father is blind and cannot work but lovingly placed the traditional plants by all the doors and windows to protect his newborn son.   This also lets those passing by know that a new baby has been born.

All communities can continue the many small blessings and rituals for the newborn while gaining a deeper understanding of germs and human physiology.   They can be taught that mosquito nets and breastfeeding and the proper immunizations can prevent many deaths. 

They can bury the placenta by a special tree or spring to assure the baby’s love of the earth and bring the baby to the temple for a special blessing.   They can do all this while still coming to understand the dangers of dirty water and having too many babies too close together.  

Like all of us, are fears are caused by real events and by stories we hear from others.  We pass them down and create small rituals to keep us safe.  We hope that if we follow a specific path and do the exact right thing, we can be free of these unfortunate events that take our children prematurely and cause us great sorrow.  

Parents have prayed for thousands of years that their child be spared.   In time, we have learned that by protecting all children everywhere we best protect our own children.   We learn that when we plant a tree, we bless future generations of children for many years to come.  We learn that when we make huge profits at the expense of the environment that we put all children in danger, including those closest to us.  We learn that excessive wealth and privledge for our own children causes war and death and  mental illness which may come back to harm those we love.

I do not believe that there is an invisible evil force taking the lives of children but rather the everyday power of too much greed  in our life causes war, violence, floods and hunger.   I love the beautiful branches of flowers tucked into the walls of the houses in Cambodia and hope they never ever give that tradition up, even as we who can, offer blessings to the worlds babies through the thoughtful examination of our own life style and its impact on others.