“Dad, how do I tie my shoes?” “Dad, how do I blow my nose?” “Dad, how do you play tag?”
Some “Dad” questions are easy to answer. Others . . . not so much:
“Dad, how do I make my heart beat right?”
The infant unknowingly puts this question to her father. For the newborn, life out of the womb is stressful. She experiences the basic skills necessary for life (like breathing, eating, moving) as anxiety-inducing challenges. Life flusters her little heart, and upset, its pulse skyrockets.
When a newborn’s heart rate goes out-of-whack, there’s a way that Dad can help.
Many delivery room nurses will recommend to a new father that he take his daughter and hold her under his shirt, close to his chest, so that they’re skin-to-skin, heart-to-heart. Resting there, the little child listens to the strong, steady beat of her father’s heart. Slowly her heart begins to beat with his, until they move in unison, synchronized, father and daughter, sharing the same pulse.
By holding his child close, Dad teaches her heart how to beat.
In baptism, each of us is reborn: every Christian is God’s child. We come up out of the baptismal font with newborn hearts—hearts made pure and filled with grace. Yet, they are weak hearts. Life still flusters and upsets us. Eventually, we all put the same question to the Lord:
“Father, how do I make my heart beat right?”
The more we’re confronted by the challenges and anxieties of the Christian life, the more pressing this question becomes:
“Father, how do I strengthen my weak faith?” “Father, how do I not fall into despair?” “Father, how do I love you?”
Whenever God hears one of his little children ask this question, he always draws her or him close to his chest, skin-to-skin and heart-to-heart, and responds with the strong and steady beat of his heart. The sound of God’s beating heart—the awareness of his loving presence—calms and stabilizes every unruly pulse.
Faith gives us ears to hear his reassuring heartbeat:
“You are my precious daughter.” “You are my beloved son.”
Whenever our hearts go out-of-whack, we know where we need to be: heart-to-heart with God. Even the most child-like prayer begins to put our hearts in tune with the Father’s. For the more we believe in his fatherly presence, the more he will teach our hearts to beat strong and steady like his.
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Photo from Peakpx
