A little over 2000 years ago, a baby boy was born. One version of his story presents how this baby boy, in spite of his humble birth, was visited by a host of people all bearing him gifts: Wise Men, shepherds, possibly even angels. The shepherds brought lambs, the angels, their adoration and the Wise Men brought gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Perhaps a more philosophical reading of the latter gesture indicates a greater significance in its symbolic meaning – a conferring upon the baby of the potential for, or confirmation of, his own inner connection to Love, Wisdom and Divine Intelligence.
Either way we look at it, this baby boy was celebrated at his birth in a way that befits the birth of a Son of God and was feted with the qualities one would rightly assign to such a being. This baby boy later lived and shared these qualities with the world and eventually his life became the cornerstone of one of the current institutionalised religions in our world, Christianity, named after Jesus the Christ.
Notwithstanding that several interpretations have been overlaid upon the life of Jesus over the years, it can assuredly be said that his life did fulfil the promise of those ‘gifts’ conferred upon him, or confirmed as being within him at his birth.
In our current times, 353,000 babies are born each and every day, with a little over half of these babies being boys (1). Hence, there are over 176,500 baby boys born daily. This equates to over 65 million baby boys born every single year.
It is surely worth considering what physical gifts and/or qualities we bring to them. How do we welcome them into this world? What are the first imprints they receive, not just from their immediate, close family, but from all of us?
In the more affluent societies, most if not all babies are ‘showered’ with physical gifts – toys, nappies, engraved cups and spoons, greetings cards to welcome the new baby and for boys, largely blue items of clothing. These baby boys seem to ‘have it all’ when compared to their peers in less affluent countries, who are born into poverty, sickness, war and conflict. On one level they are most certainly more fortunate. However, what energy precisely comes with these packages of ‘blue’ based gifts, qualities, beliefs and expectations? In what quality of energy do we collectively welcome baby boys into this world?
Based on personal experience and observation, what I see is that from the moment the baby takes his first physical breath, the process of imprinting involves the imposition of some very weighty ideals, beliefs and pictures, which severely reduce and restrict his innate expression.
As a child is born, there is a moment of absolute grace where those present behold the new life in a genuine sense of awe and wonder.
Shortly thereafter, he is also greeted by the often heavy expectations of his immediate and extended family, who are themselves the subjects of the same societally dictated concepts about what it is to be a boy and what it is to be a man; concepts that are then projected onto the physically vulnerable, newborn baby.
The first conversations are often about the baby’s physicality. Does he have long legs? He’s going to be a runner. Is his build more stocky? A lifetime of rugby ahead for him! Does he clench his fists? Likely to be a boxer. It is not uncommon for families to drape their newborns in the colours of their favourite sporting team from the moment of birth. Others discuss and anticipate what career the child will take up later in life – will he be a carpenter, a doctor, a musician, an entrepreneur who will uphold the family name, make money, be a success? Much of this occurs as the child sleeps and ostensibly without any awareness on the part of the extended family of how it affects him, for good or for ill.
In some hospitals there is an anecdotal saying that when there are more boys born than girls, it presages the advent of war. Globally, there are always more boys than girls born – the ratio is 105:100 (2) Are we then implying that we are always going to be at war and do such beliefs endorse the tough, competitive, even aggressive image of what it means to be a man?
Such impositions are everywhere. I once mentioned to a friend that her newborn was distressed by the noise and the energy of the TV. Her reply was that she had observed the same thing, mentioned it to the medical staff and was advised that the baby, who was a week old, needed to get used to it.
Part of the mix can also be the emotional needs of the mother. I have often heard mums refer to their newborn sons as ‘my little man,’ and observed how the baby can at times be assigned the role of fulfilling mum’s need to feel needed.
Do any of these imprints support the baby boy to connect with what he innately is? Or do they undermine it?
Is it possible that the baby boy born a little over 2000 years ago came into a family who themselves lived in a way that honoured the qualities of tenderness, inner connection, Soul, Love, Wisdom and Divine Intelligence? Did his teachers, elders and other members of his community also live thus and so nurtured the baby boy to unfold his divine potential, clearing the path for him so that he knew how to clear the path for so many others?
We are none of us born into a vacuum and naturally look to others to reflect and to confirm who we are. Especially as children, as newborns, we need to be nurtured in a manner that supports our unfolding development of our inner qualities. However, is it the case that we can only do this for our baby boys, for all of our children, once we have offered to, and unfolded this, for ourselves?
Does the quality of our welcome for our newborns reside within the quality we live and hold for ourselves, how we cherish and truly value ourselves?
Do we need to be Soul-connected ourselves to truly welcome a Soul-connected being coming into the physical body in a way that confirms its absolute divinity? I feel that we do and that it is only then that we can move on from imposing our collectively held ideals, pictures, concepts and beliefs to expressing a true welcome from the inner-heart like:
Dear little child of mine
May the rays of Heaven shine
May you know just how Divine
All the wonders you bring to our lives
As you live and as you grow
May you forever always know
How grand and special you are
Bright as the light of a star
Dear little child of mine.
(Michael Benhayon GM Records)
Does not every child, every baby boy, deserve to be welcomed in this way, honoured in the simplicity of all that he is? And is this the only gift he truly ever needs, confirmed and lived daily by all those around him?
Permission from Michael Benhayon for the use of the Little Child of Mine lyric at the end of this blog.
By Coleen
References:
- How Many Babies Are Born Each Day? (n.d.). Retrieved August 04, 2017, from http://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/How-Many-Babies-Are-Born-Each-Day
- Sex Ratio. (n.d.). Retrieved August 04, 2017, from http://www.searo.who.int/entity/health_situation_trends/data/chi/sex-ratio/en/
Further Reading:
“Boys will be Boys”…I Don’t Think So
Men – Are we set up to fail?
Real men don’t cry
302 Comments
Loving and cherishing ourselves for who we are inspires us to love and cherish all others equally.
What a great Blog Colleen, as we can all react to what is going on in the world, and we also have the opportunity to make more Loving choices to deliver our-selves from the controlling fear mongering institutions that want to belittle our essences.
It is important to reflect on what quality of energy do we welcome baby boys, and girls, into the world, ‘Does the quality of our welcome for our newborns reside within the quality we live and hold for ourselves, how we cherish and truly value ourselves?’
What a gorgeous and much needed blog, Coleen. As I reflect on its content, although for the most part I did not raise my son in such all-encompassing, unimposing ways, I know that it is never too late to start. As I am re-raising myself with the honouring and simplicity of all that I am so too am I embracing my son equally.
Brigette, I agree firstly we need to re-raise ourselves with an honouring, simplicity and grace. Only then can we not just embrace our children but all of humanity to show that we do not need to impose on each other ideals and beliefs which do not belong to us in the first place but are sourced from a consciousness we are as yet not aware of.
What beautiful lyrics by Michael Benhayon… to let our children know this from a tender age right on through adulthood and to hold them in love no matter what – to take responsibility for the energy we take on and to keep coming back to the truth and letting them see a reflection of what is possible – that is what supports them growing up – our unwavering love and integrity.
Yes, I love this song from Michael Benhayon, very beautiful.
To be brought up in the knowing you are a divine being, and to be cherished for those qualities – that is our future.
I received an email recently and the love that I felt that was beholding me was something I hadn’t felt for a long time it was such a beautiful stop moment for me just to allow myself to feel the absolute grace the email was sent with. I cannot wait for humanity to feel and connect to this depth and quality of love too. As you say Sarah for us all to cherish ourselves for the divine beings we are and that this is our future that we can live now.
Thank you Coleen feeling the responsibility we all have for the quality we choose to live in and how this is reflected to babies as they enter the world and are so often faced with suffocating ideals and beliefs that do not honour their innate tenderness.
“I have often heard mums refer to their newborn sons as ‘my little man,’ and observed how the baby can at times be assigned the role of fulfilling mum’s need to feel needed”. I have seen this in other mums and myself. We impose a lot of need on our sons to be the man that other adult men have failed to be. This becomes a trade-off where mums get their emotional needs met and in exchange pander and compromise on their standards.
Having just had a baby boy it is a joy to be surrounded by people who connect to the quality he brings and not his future roles. He is so very still, and this is what we are deeply appreciating at the moment, not what he does but who he is – a different way of bringing in babies into the world to support them in who they are first.
You are fully right here Coleen. We should honour our new borns in what they are, their divinity, and not burden them with beliefs and expectations from the start. But that can only be done by living this as parents ourselves.
“As you live and as you grow
May you forever always know
How grand and special you are”
Michael Benhayon
Every child, every baby boy or girl deserves to be welcomed with such love, so so precious are our little ones – its our responsibility as adults to not impose but to allow them to be all they are.
Very beautifully expressed Sam. When I first heard this song by Michael Benhayon, I cried as I felt the same, that every child deserves to be welcomed with such love. But in reality, this is not the case. This song confirms how deeply precious we all are and every single one of us is worth celebrating.
Chan and Sam we can agree that the words that Micheal Benhayon wrote deeply confirm how precious we all are and the song serves as a reminder that every single person deserves to be held in such love and just how wayward we have become that this isn’t our reality at present.
Cherish ourselves and we will be able to cherish every child that is born.
This is the key Elizabeth, and I agree, we must first cherish ourselves and then we are able to cherish every child and adult in our life. When one child in this world is not cherished or adored it impacts on us all and this highlights how deeply connected we all are. One action and one choice of one person actually affect the rest of humanity.
It is true, every child deserves the honouring, the love, that indeed surrounds us all at all times
Just imagine if every child was sung the exquisite lyrics to this song over and over again as they grew. Life certainly would change immeasurably simply because every child was being honoured for the divine soul they are, the unique expression they are here to bring to the world and then supported to live it
I love this song Ingrid, when I listen to it I feel absolutely adored and loved for who I am. This song is for everyone and it is a blessing for humanity to have this easily available to us all.
We have all these ideals and beliefs of how to toughen up and make boys into strong men but in fact, the way we treat our boys only serves to make them weaker, not stronger. This is evident by the number of men that suicide each year as they are unable to cope with the expectations placed on them and are indeed very sensitive.
Julie now there is a can of worms that you have just opened, why is it that so many men suicide? Society does not want to go there to really delve into why this is happening and the men are getting younger and younger – so some this isn’t right about the way we are raising them or the females for that matter. Society is totally out of kilter and yet we just carry on regardless, why? What is it we don’t want to look at or face?
Beautiful Coleen and a powerful testament to the truth that in honoring the essence of who we are at birth (even before), a son of God no less, and foster this knowingness within every child as they develop and grow we would have living amongst us the Godliness that is rightfully there to live and be inspired to live more of. To empower a child to learn to live all that they multi-dimensionally are is to empower ourselves and all of humanity, as each child and each generation serve to continue to pull us up, to inspire us all evolve in order to live more of the divinity we are here to live.
If we meet every baby, boy or girl in the grandness that they are, knowing we are that too, how would the world look like?
Beautiful Coleen – it’s like as men we need to ‘re-greet’ and know ourselves as delicate bundles of joy – otherwise we tend to develop a heap of protective behaviours and beliefs – that’s how sweet and precious we are.
This is so gorgeous Joseph and as women we need to reflect to men and boys that it is safe and so much needed to embrace their innate sweetness.
When we allow our baby boys to unfold their inner qualities instead of learning them certain behaviours we think a boy or a man needs to have because it will help them to live in the harsh societies we live in, we are missing a very important thing. The thing that the delicacy and tenderness that is inherent in a boy or a man, when lived in full, has the power to make an end to all the harshness in society we try to protect then from.
A great question for us to reflect on, ‘ Does the quality of our welcome for our newborns reside within the quality we live and hold for ourselves, how we cherish and truly value ourselves?‘
Imagine a life born without the imposition of beliefs and ideals we place on each other, from young and through all of life? Simply allowed to ‘be’ and celebrated for who we naturally are.
It is significant that we have such stories such as the gifts of the 3 wise men that deeply confirm and honour the greatest qualities within humanity. This shows that we know, recognise and appreciate such qualities. It would be great if we all start confirming this in one another right from the beginning as well as endeavouring to live it ourselves and not keep it reserved for just a few ‘special’ ones.
I was thinking the other day how much we are moulded from day one by our parents, culture, religion, etc and how much influence these outside things have in how we turn out as people. If we were just left to express the love we come through as and supported with love, without all the ideals and beliefs thrust upon us I expect life would be quite clear sailing with less storms and far more progress back to where we are heading.
There are so many ideals and beliefs about how to be as a man in this world but none of these are honouring the true quality men can bring to this world other than the being hard, tough and the readiness to go to war, these ideals and beliefs are preaching.
We seem to pigeonhole what a boy and girl is – to dress them, talk to them, raise them in certain ways that relate to their sex rather than seeing them as a soul and a human being first. This blog highlights how we use separation at such a young age – which feeds into the bigger picture of separation in our world.
Beautiful Coleen,sweet as ever, and yes indeed that is what we all need from a very young age. To be allowed to be all that we naturally are made off, no added flavours. We need to stop opposing ideals, beliefs and images on our kids and let them be instead !
Is it time for a change in that as soon as a baby is born male or female it seems to me we incarcerate them into the cage we call society they are bombarded with ideals and beliefs until they reach saturation point and can no longer remember who they truly are. Is it possible to love and adore our children just for being those bright shinning stars and instead of trying to put their fire out we support them to burn more brightly we as adults get to feel their glory and may be just start to remember we were once just as innocent and full of life.
So many ideals and beliefs we can smother children with or we can appreciate their preciousness and honour that allowing ourselves to become more precious with ourselves also.
It is time for us to be more aware and responsible in how we live and the affect this has on others, instead of imposing on them, ‘the process of imprinting involves the imposition of some very weighty ideals, beliefs and pictures, which severely reduce and restrict his innate expression.’
It is interesting to observe how we can place expectations or impositions onto children without actively being aware that we are even doing this. If we have any sort of picture of something we want for another this then comes with an imposition and doesn’t give them the full freedom to express.
A gorgeous summation in how we can appreciate and confirm someone’s innate qualities by simply allowing them to be just as divinely delicate and tender as they are the day they were born. Thank you Coleen.
The concluding paragraph speaks volumes.
The best welcoming any child can receive is to be honoured in the simplicity of all that they are and all children deserve to be ongoingly related to as such by all those around them.
In fact anything less in my eyes is abuse.
This blog is excellent in that it shows to me how all babies are born with that initial Divine quality and connection to God, just as Jesus was. Anyone who has taken the time to look deeply into a baby’s eyes can see and feel this incredible heavenly connection for themselves.
Every baby, child or adult has that divine quality and connection to god equally, but indeed as you say it can be best observed in a newborn baby as in fact we are not truly honouring it and instead try to mask it as much as we can.
‘Does the quality of our welcome for our newborns reside within the quality we live and hold for ourselves, how we cherish and truly value ourselves?’ When we truly nurture ourselves and know our value as an equal divine being as the newborn we cannot but be honouring the light and love a baby brings into our lives not matter if it is a boy of a girl..
I used to sing that song you have in this blog to my boys when they were babies, it is a sweet way to connect with your kids, through true music. Out of all the gifts that came when my children were born, the CDs they were given from Glorious Music were the most treasured and used.
Our literature is full of figures that we have placed on a pedestal with amazing qualities that we admire. Yet every quality we acknowledge and admire is simply showing us a quality that we could all be living. It is time that we started honouring ourselves and each other with such regard and stopped imagining it is always others that are more important, more worthy and more responsible than us.
“Does the quality of our welcome for our newborns reside within the quality we live and hold for ourselves, how we cherish and truly value ourselves?” A great question Coleen and one that holds a deep responsibility in how we live, express and value who we are and how this then holds all others equally within these simple and yet deeply exploratory movements made. Imagine how a new born bay boy or girl would feel being supported by this quality too? Thank you.
The subtleness of how we push the ways of the current world on to our new arrivals is a marker of the unwillingness to truly feel what is going on.
I have found children already know they are grand and special. We slowly impose on them that they have to earn the right to be called grand and special. If we just stepped away from the disempowering of our children and instead appreciated and confirmed all they already are and always will be no matter what, our world would be revolutionised.