Baby Grace :: Update

This morning, in the process of moving my office, I found a copy of the letter I wrote to the CEO of Sun Recycling on December 28, 2006. Sun Recycling is where Baby Grace's body was found in the dumpster back in November. See on Dec 21st, Sun Recycling provided a funeral service to honor her death and again I had a hard time dealing with this story. I could not live with the news story that one-day old Baby Grace, was laid to rest. I could not accept that a human being could discarded a baby like yesterday's trash. I could not accept that a human being can be so cold & heartless.

But judgements do nothing but criticize. Actually what I could not accept was living with my own inadequacies - my story that a single human cannot make any difference. See my story sounded like this: "That's just the way things are..." and "It's unfair but what can I do about it?..." I have valid reasons for being this way & I hear that story running like a tape in my head - over and over again... I got sick of it!!! I cannot just sit here & let it go by like yesterday's news - into the trash. I could not accept that things had to be like this.

Appropriately so the week I was looking for what I can do, the S.E.L.P. classroom was about "being unreasonable." Living outside of the reasons we give ourselves; beyond the limits we live in; beyond an ordinary life and just living into an extraordinary life. So I took on that challenge. I want an extra-ordinary life!

So I made an "unreasonable" request! My letter requested that, besides being unreasonable in providing funeral services for a baby he never knew, I wanted him to be even more unreasonable. I wanted him to allow me to create a Roadside Memorial for Baby Grace on his property. The request was so that I can create my live outside my limits and beyond my reasons. And so that in living an unreasonable life I can dream of an unreasonable society where - not one more baby gets discarded into the trash.

A month went by with no reply and I started to feel small again. My reasons showed up again. Reasons like: "this is just too morbid" - "too weird." - "I don't have any relationship with this poor baby." - "this is too much work!" It is these very reasons that kept my humanity small!

So this morning, as I am thinking of this letter, I get a phone call from Sun Recycling. The call caught me off guard since the man, Andy P. quickly introduced himself and went right into - what are you asking of us! I thought he was going to say no - but he went right into "what do you want to create and what do we have to deal with."

I am amazed at the generosity of these men! The level of commitment, love and compassion. This is inspiring to see the better side of our humanity.

Baby Grace

There has been this story in the newspapers that is still gnawing at me.

On Nov 20, a baby girl, named Baby Grace by investigators, was found in a construction dumpster - umbilical cord still attached. The first thing I thought was "how can anyone just dump a baby like a pile of trash?" But this thought came from anger and a sense that "where has our humanity gone?" I realize that these are negative thoughts and are judgemental. I don't know anything about the mother & what could be going on in her world.

Maybe she is a teen mother who felt all alone in this world & maybe she was scared of being responsible for a baby's life. Maybe she was scared to death! What would her parents do to her if they found out!? Maybe the mother is an adult who is in danger herself. I have no clue therefore cannot judge at all! Only God can do that.

But I cannot help being drawn to this little girl's story. I still cannot get over being angry & sad for what happened to her.

I have this need to do something about it. I don't know what I can do for this little girl, but I do have this need to restore my faith in humanity. And maybe in doing so I can bring dignity to her death.

Difference Between a Weed and a Flower.

I just learned a profound lesson today.

How do you explain the difference between a weed and a flower to a 5 year old innocent child?

A child looks over my shoulder and wonders why I'm pulling out dandelions and little purple flowers. And why I would be planting other flowers back into my garden. Try to explain that they are weeds, and she asked "How do you know the difference between a weed or a flower?"

She seems to make perfect sense. How do you really distinguish the difference? We can say that the flowers are beautiful and that the dandelion is not. But as the picture above shows, I would be wrong. I could explain that the weed contributes nothing to the garden. But God put them there, in their brilliant colors, for a reason - so they do have a significance.

I remember that as a kid, I would pick dandelions and give them to my mother. She would tell me how "nice" they were, but that I should realize that they are just weeds. Why don't I go out and pick "pretty flowers" instead. She would show me that real flowers were prettier than weeds. And that real flowers were planted by hand - not growing wild in the fields.

I started to ponder this thought and came to the conclusion that the only difference is the value we place on one over the other. So is a flower really a better choice over a weed to decorate my garden?

By looking at the pictures on this post I cannot say that a weed had less value or provides less beauty to a garden than a rose would.

So as Wayne Dyer says:

"The only difference between a weed and a flower is a judgement."

We cannot judge people, as flowers, only based on their outward beauty. Each of us has a deep down beauty and a significant soul. God hand-picked each one of us and placed us onto this garden we call earth. Each and everyone of us are of significant value to God and have been selected for a purpose in this life.

So learn to see the beauty in each individual in your life. See them for who they are and not for who you perceive them to be. Acknowledge them now! For they really are a significant part of your life.