Common Sense and Compassion “Common sense!” There are many possible definitions of this phrase, but the most appropriate, is “the simple, practical judgement to know automatically – almost intuitively – what is the right thing to do.” In a computer age, we might say, it is the disposition to “default” to the right choice. At the turn of the Twentieth Century, Mr. Harrison Fisher had established a reputation as an excellent illustrator. Mr. Fisher did two series of six paintings. The second was entitled, “Six Senses.” They were: • The sense of sight and was illustrated by the suitor seeing his beloved for the first time. • The second was the sense of taste and was illustrated by candy given as a gift. • The third was the sense of smell as the two lovers shared the fragrance of a rose. • The fourth was the sense of touch as the lovers embraced. • The fifth was the sense of hearing, as she overheard him asking her father for her hand in marriage. • And, the sixth was “common sense.” Each of these paintings reflects the grace and elegance of an age which valued dignity and decency far more than our “modern” age does. Each reflects the hopes and dreams every father would have for his daughter. It is easy to imagine the images, which portray the first five: • A casual look across the deck of a ship which changes one’s life forever. • A first gift which is not too personal but which brings pleasure as each bite is consumed. • A lovely rose, which silently tells the young lady what the suitor thinks of her. • A moment of intimacy, as a gentle embrace seals the commitment, which will last a lifetime. • A smiling bride-to-be as she listens behind a curtain to her husband-to-be tread the treacherous waters of gaining her father’s permission to claim her as his own. But, how does the sixth portray “common sense?” It is the picture of a young mother feeding her infant child at her breast, as the proud, adoring and loving father looks over her shoulder. Breast-feeding lost favor, as society became more “sophisticated” in the late 19th Century. The “upper classes” decided that the mother should not be “tied’ to the child by a feeding cycle and thus breast feeding lost favor. This spread to all of society until breast-feeding was the exception rather than the rule. Nevertheless, it would be through the same group that breast-feeding would regain favor in this country, as the health benefits of mother’s milk to the newborn became better known and understood. The beauty of a child who has received life from the mother’s body – designed for that purpose by God – now receiving the nurture of life from that same body is one of the greatest treasures on this earth. It just made “common sense” that breast-feeding is best for the child, for the mother and for the family. In fact, one of the most beautiful metaphors in the Bible is built on the concept of “nursing” a child. Psalm 12 laments the passing of “godly” and “faithful” men from the earth. The Hebrew word translated “godly: is HASID, which means “kind, excellent.” Its cognate, HESED, means “covenant love, lovingkindness, mercy.” And, the feminine form of HASID means “stork, ‘kind bird,’ ‘pious bird.’” The gentleness and the loving kindness of a stork is an illustration from nature of HASID, because a stork cares for both its parents -- those under whose authority it operates, and for its young -- those for whom it has responsibility. In Numbers 11:12, the same word is translated “nursing fathers,” as it is in Isaiah 49:23. It carries the idea of one who can be “leaned upon” when help is need. In II Chronicles 20:20, it is translated “established,” giving the sense of one who “knows who and what he is” and thus can help others discover the same. A “nursing father”! Quite a concept. The essential characteristic of the “man of God” who is HASID -- who is a “nursing father” -- is that he reflects the character of God as described in Matthew 5:48. He lives above man’s laws of retaliation and of “getting even,” and he cares more for the benefit of others than for personal gain. The “nursing father” cares for his children, just like the “nursing mother,” but spiritually, emotionally and psychologically, more than physically. He is affected by the hurts, the failures, the fears, the weaknesses of his children. The “nursing father” must not accommodate evil, but must feel the inadequacies of his children and respond to these in compassion and love. He must also be able to endure evil against himself without complaining and without reviling. This is the mercy, this is the HESED, of covenant love and this is the first and essential characteristic of a “nursing father,” who will with the “nursing mother” nourish and nurture a healthy child. Common sense! Fathers and mothers nursing their children. It doesn’t take a village to raise a child, but it does take a nursing mother and a nursing father. And, where one or the other fails in his or her responsibility, others may step in and provide the HESID which every child and which every human needs.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 11:07:14 +0000