Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus.
There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served.
Lazarus was one of those at the table with him.
Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard,
anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair.
~ John 12:1-3
Today is the propitious confluence of several happy events: its the first day of spring, the Gospel readings is about coming home to the home of dear friends, it is the birthday of Martin, my first born.
Thinking of spring, home and Martin, I mull over in my mind with a smile on my face and deep gratitude in my heart the lessons I have learned from my first born.
Even as a young boy, Martin was capable of erudite insights. Not yet of school-age, he said to me once, “You are only as old as a father as I am your son.” I tried getting him interested in the superheroes on my youth. I bought him Superman comics. His reaction, “Where is the fun when you cannot lose?”
I looked at my being a father from the point of view of such platitudes as “A spring can never rise higher than its source.” or “A fruit never falls far from the tree.” I was wrong of course. And Martin burst my bubble early on. Since graduating from Grade 7, he loved to rib me about my single medal by holding up the handful he garnered.
One of the tenets of reincarnation is the persons, prior to being born again, get to choose their own parents based on one particular life-lesson they would want to learn or an important life-goal to achieve. This thought, whether fact or fancy, has immensely humbled me and impressed on me my responsibility in helping Martin in the unfolding of his life. He has chosen me. I am an instrument in his life, not the cause of it.
Martin is an old soul. He is profound and erudite. There is a beautiful melody playing in his heart that is straining to be heard and shared. He is choosy and has chosen well the people with and for whom he wants to play that music. He is a very sensitive soul. He loves deeply and dearly. His joys and pleasures are never mundane but they can be very simple. But he can be very complex. He knows the pain is there even before the first tear drops.
This is a great morning. Thank you for the first day of spring. Thank you for the blessings of home and friends. Thank you for a wonderful gift of a first-born named Martin.