Life

Today the world welcomed the life of Vesper Hiver Beck. Dependent, weak, and tired, she will be a new soul, a new voice, and a new example in this world. She has much to learn: much joy, much pain, and much excitement. The wonders of walking, the joy of friendship, the excitement of love, the pain of sorrow, and the mystery of the unknown. It won't be an easy journey for her but it will be one of learning and prosperity.

I want to use this post to celebrate life. Picture the new buds forming on the ends of hundreds branches around you. Each one yearning to unfurl into a bright flower or a strong green leaf ready for a new cycle of warm air, cool rain, and the light breezes. Imagine the beauty of a young fawn taking its first steps, struggling to gain ground and then feeling the confidence to explore a new world full of smells, tastes, and colors.

Life is nothing but a collection of cycles. Be it the overarching cycle of a lifetime or the cycles of pain we experience, we are constantly moving in circular motions. That isn't to mean there is no progress in our lives. In the same fashion as a tree, we have our times of full bloom where the effect of our existence comes into full being. But we also have times of withdrawal, rest, and recovery, as noted by the hibernation against the harshness of winter. And yet, despite this yearly cycle for a tree: the bloom, the beauty, the transformation of color, until the ultimate shedding and hibernation, the tree isn't stuck in one cycle. It continues to grow and strengthen. The harsh winters invigorate it. The calm springs hearten it. The warm hot summers strengthen it. And the cool falls relieve it. So we go through these cycles of hardness, relaxation, calmness, and struggle. We die, we rise again. We die, we rise again. These cycles are what make us and define us.

For Vesper, she is about to begin on one of thousands of cycles in her life. There will be winters, falls, springs, and summers. And through each season she will grow and learn until she has become the towering oak she is destined to be, a sight for all people and an great influence in the world around her.

That is life. That is what we celebrate.

I am proud to be her uncle and her godfather. May God bless her, her mother, her father, and those she will have an impact on in her many years of life. Amen.