Beacons of Light in the Headlines: Tornado Dog and Sewer Pipe Baby
There was no room for him at the inn, and he was soon forsaken … yet when the darkest hour had come, he was miraculously resurrected and exalted above all in the news, and his renown spread around the globe.
Why do we focus so intensely, and gain so much inspiration, from such unusual occurrences which are caught on video and photographs, and circulated at the speed of light on cable and the internet? After all, on a regular basis, millions of puppies, kittens, dogs, cats, and yes, human infants are abandoned, neglected, abused, or even just killed by people who find them inconvenient, worthless, and unacceptable. So, what’s so special and captivating and inspiring about the occasional lowly subject of a rescue effort who is narrowly brought back against seeming impossible odds, after having been written off?
Is it merely the individual circumstances which give the particular events a newsworthy momentum, the elements of drama and suspense, and that there happen to be cameras on the scene?
I’m sure that the answer lies within the question itself. Certain “saves” are special to us, because they are special to us. We decide, according to our intentions, to assign great worth to what is deemed by others to be comparatively worthless.
This theme shows up repeatedly throughout Biblical scripture, especially in such parables as the return of the prodigal son, and in the finding of the lost sheep and of the lost coin (Luke 15). As well, the message shows up in passages such as “The last shall be first, and the first shall be last” (Matthew 20:16) and “Whoever is the least among you is the greatest( Luke 9:48).
Moses, as a baby, was marked for death and cast adrift in a basket on the Nile river, but God had a special plan for him. The experiences of Jonah and other Biblical figures throughout repeatedly exemplify this idea. As Sigmund Freud points out in Moses and Monotheism, many ancient religions contain identical themes.
In our own ways, we relate to the lowly, forsaken subjects of dramatic rescues in current-events as if they are our own loved ones, and we raise them up.
God does the same thing with and for us – broken and wretched human refuse of flotsam and jetsam that we often are – those of us who belong to Him, through his Son, who also experienced rejection and ruin when He took human form. He promises to raise us up and redeem us.
Stay tuned.
Image: Courtesy of Youtube/CBS News
