Twentieth century clergyman and author Norman Vincent Peale made famous his Parable of the Prenatal Baby which he first told to a wealthy and powerful aging man who asked him about the mysterious afterlife.  He told it not to explain an unknowable reality but to offer us enlightenment through faith, intelligence, and common sense; he admitted that the unexplainable mysteries of life, death, and a world beyond cannot be explained.  He offered it, rather, so we could consider the unknown future from a perspective that we have already experienced.  I retell it here as we approach Memorial Day because many of us use this time to reflect upon what happens when our earthly existence ends and another one beyond begins.  Jesus, of course, often spoke in Parables.  His purpose, similarly, was not to explain unexplainable things but to encourage us to think critically and prayerfully with all that has been entrusted to us, including our faith, intelligence, and common sense.  Here is a Parable of Life.

Imagine a baby tucked under his mother’s loving heart.  He’s safe, he’s warm, he’s cared for, he’s happy with life as he knows it.  And then one day, Someone (or something) somehow says to this unborn child: “Hey—you cannot stay here for long.  Soon you are going to die out of your present state, or as we like to say, you’ll be born into a new way of life.”  But the infant protests: “I don’t want to leave here.  I’m warm, I’m loved, I’m cared for.  I don’t want to die or what you call be born out of this place.”

But in the natural course of things—and it happens to us all—he is born.  He does die out of that old state.  And what does he find?  Well, he first feels the strong, loving arms that hold him tight.  He looks up to see the beautiful, shining face of the parent who holds him with a love far greater than anything he’s ever known before.  And the child exclaims: “How foolish I have been.  This is indeed a wonderful place to which I have come.  I want to remain here forever.”  And we know some of what happens from there: the innocence of infancy, the delights of childhood, the foibles of youth, and life goes on…the excitement of romance, the strength of adulthood, the achievement of middle age, the wonderment of growing old, and life goes on.  And he knows that he is growing old.  And then one day, Someone (or something) somehow says to this person: “Hey—you cannot stay here for long.  Soon you are going to die out of your present state, or as we like to say, you’ll be born into a new way of life.”  But the person protests: “But I don’t want to leave here.  I’m warm, I’m loved, I’m cared for.  I love this world and the people who are important to me.  I love the sunrise and the sunset; I love the starlight and the moon glow.  I love the warmth of the sun upon my face in the summer; I love the crunch of the snow under my feet in the winter.  I don’t want to die or what you call be born out of this place.”

But in natural course of things—and it happens to us all—he does die.  He dies out of that old state.  And what do you suppose will happen then?  Is the Creator of all life suddenly going to change His unchanging nature, the unchanging nature of God?  Can we not assume that, once again, he’ll feel the strong, loving arms that hold him tight?  Won’t he look up again and see the beautiful, shining face of the parent who holds him with a love far greater than anything he’s ever known before?  And won’t this child of God once again exclaim: “How foolish I have been.  This is indeed a wonderful place to which I have come.  I want to remain here forever!”

As Peale stated, this parable appeals to our faith, our intelligence, and our common sense.  It makes sense to our prayerful knowledge that life is short, death is certain, and God’s love is everlasting.  As we give thanks for our Loved Ones, their time among us, the impact of their existence, we also come to understand more deeply that we come from God and return to God, that we were created by love, for love, and out of love.  That love directs us to return to love in its purest form when our life is over while leaving behind only one thing: love.  In the midst of such an incredible mystery, we can look forward to new life one day—the day in which we will be born as a child of God in the kingdom of eternity.