Friday, July 23, 2010

A good question.

Miriam: "Mommy. You know how the angel killed all those first born Egyptians?"

Me: (cleaning up baby spit-up while doling out gold fish. whole grain, of course) "Uh. Yep."

Miriam: "Well, were they good babies or bad babies?"

Me: (oh, geeesh.) "Uh. Well. You know, God had a plan for those babies. We just don't always understand it."

Miriam: "Oh. Well, I do."

Good. You can write the book.

And that was the third time we had that conversation today.

2 comments:

Maica Kozak said...

I love Miriam! Please send her my love.

Clare Krishan said...

oh felix culpa!
Miriam the philosopher daughter treds in her mother's footsteps?

Yet surely "first-born" is a human rubric of potency and destiny, a temptation to elevate maternity to the levers of temporal affairs a la "divine right of kings" in direct opposition to the purity of Mary's FIAT?

Those babies' divine paternity was confirmed in the Angel's fidelity to His perfect judgment (was good=chosen? and bad=rejected?). The chosen people (ie our Hebrew forefathers) rested in the Bosom of Abraham until Jesus' descent to the dead, no? The angels spiritual natures not succumbing to the weakness of flesh to usurp the power of the "potter's wheel" (today's 1st reading from Jeremiah) would indicate to me that the babies were "elected" to their destiny, leaving their parents in a predicament, having to recommit their family's and community's destiny to a higher knowledge, that of God's will. Good and Bad as categories can really only be applied to those cognizant of God and His having a Divine Will, no? The Egyptians idolized the leaders of the human realm, indeed we are "Egyptians" who trust in our secular leaders tyranny of relativism instead of seeking our Heavenly Lord's will, no? The final reminder - God's sacrifice of his own first born in atonement of our sins!

Oh fortuna! Perhaps the child sees what we cannot...?