August 6th 2010 - The Newborn

I really don't know why I am writing about this. The idea came to me a a week or two ago. I'm just feeling to share it, so I won't doubt that the message should go out. Sometimes when I send something out, someone says that the timing was pefect for them to receive the message. So, here it goes.

A lot of times we judge a newborn child based upon how we perceive its parents. Instead of seeing the child as its own independent entity, we imagine that it will grow up and be just like its parents. We imagine that it will make the same choices and mistakes. Many children transcend the parents, though. There are many stories of children of very common parents who became great leaders, scientists, entertainers, etc. There must also be multitudes of cases of not-so-famous people who managed to be something totally different than their parents.

A newborn child is pure potentiality. When we view the newborn as a perfect being, with unlimited potential, no matter how its parents seem, we can see a more truthful reality. Just as we should not judge a person by the way he or she appears, we should not judge a child, who has hardly even lived, by the nature of its parents. The child is its own individual, who will eventually make its own choices, and could have the seeds of greatness within, despite unremarkable parents.

Actually, I believe that every child has the seeds of greatness within. I think its mostly a matter of whether the child figures it out, often by someone else bringing it to the child's attention. Obviously, it's more recognizable in some than others. Things aren't always what they seem, though. Greatness, of course, is subject to personal interpretation. Perhaps we are each serving a greater function on Earth than any of us knows, even the most common of us.

Have A Great Weekend!

Alan

P.S. One of the most important truths that I have ever learned is that "Things aren't always what they seem." Most of the time, you can't see the truth with your eyes. Sometimes the miracles around you have to penetrate you at a deeper level than the senses.