Bending Down

I was struck with the effiminate nature of the phrase "bending down" today. No--more specific than that--it's a motherly phrase. We women who have small children have a special knowledge about bending down. We do it more than anyone else--to wipe noses, to tie shoes, to clean faces, to hug, to pick up, to put down, to kiss, to wipe away a tear. We bend down out of neccessity--you really have to get down there if you want to get all of the chocolate off your two-year old's face. We bend down out of convenience--it is so much easier to bend down to listen to your child's story than to try and decipher the words from on high. We also (and this is my favorite) bend down out of love--for the heart gets a thrill when, because we bent down, we meet them on their level and we see their joy and we can feel it in their sticky embrace that threatens to adhere like glue to our hearts and forever mar the smooth surface with texture and color (and maybe a little grape jelly, too). And I can't help thinking how the Lord has said he leads us with cords of human kindness. That He is like one who lifts a little child to the cheek and then bends down to feed us. This fact about the Lord's character is a secert present that waits to be opened by each mother. It's pretty wrapping being all we could see until we first lifted that tiny bundle to lay it sleeping in a crib--THEN and only then were we able to open the gift and see what was inside--an image of our King bending down...