The Nativity of Our Blessed Mother

This morning, a precious feast day of our Lady, I had the good fortune to ponder pages in D.C. Schindler's magisterial "The Dramatic Structure of Truth" on Baltasar's understanding of the mother's smile, the "super-positive" glance/movement of love which awakens the love/joy/consciousness of the infant. It is my view that the mother's love is the most powerful created, earthly love, surpassing in intensity even that of the father or of spouses/lovers. However, he notes that were the mother/infant love isolated unto itself, the mother would smother the infant as she would not be able to "allow" this little beloved her own space, identity and destiny. What opens this passionate love to a horizon of freedom is another love: that of the husband. Since the mother is loved as bride, wife, companion her self, she is free to allow the little one to be herself. And so we see that the awakened love of the infant flows from the bi-polar love of father-and-mother. Yesterday I watched my two grandsons while their father took her mother to the hospital for a procedure. I was happy to watch them; but I was more delighted about something else. I was able to assist in that their father was freed up from their care to attend to his wife. Their mother received the affection and attention she needs and deserves. Because of this, her love for them will be freeing and strengthening, rather than controlling and smothering. After we played a messy water game in the kitchen and were cleaning up, I mentioned that we would tell mommy that we made a mess but then cleaned it up. Four-year old Luke corrected me: "No, not mommy. We have to tell daddy. Daddy is the boss of the messes; mommy is the boss of the hittings." He already recognizes a pluralism in the home, a division of powers (like our federal government): daddy disciplines about messes, mommy about fights. In this home there is no monolithic, totalitarianism of the mother or the father, but a diversity, a wholesome pluralism, a communal difference in love, much like the Trinity.