If Henry David Thoreau was correct, "That every child begins the world again," it's no wonder that even cranks and curmudgeons will smile and even swoon over the arrival of a newborn.
Over 60,000 babies will be born in Colorado by this year's end, with approximately 7,000 right here in Colorado Springs. Of those 7,000, more than 5,000 will be delivered through the two UCHealth Birth Centers -- one at Memorial Central and the other at Memorial North.
With two dozen plus labor, delivery and recovery rooms between both facilities, mothers and fathers receive five-star treatment rivaling service at The Broadmoor.
A supervisor for UCHealth told me this past weekend she's been working in obstetrics here in the Springs for over 17 years. She said the team is committed "to doing everything we can to give our patients the very best experience."
Mothers and babies don't always need hospitals, of course, which is a good thing since Colorado Springs didn't get its first official one until 1887, 16 years after the city's founding. That first facility began as an infirmary run by four Catholic nuns who came from the St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration order in Lafayette, Ind.
Life with a baby on the frontier was difficult. With limited medical care, round-the-clock chores, and brutal weather, moms and dads were never for want of work or worry. Most importantly, though, raising a child provided wives and husbands with something all the money can never buy: a purpose beyond themselves.
Babies have a way of not only softening hearts, but also shifting perspective. They can force the immature to grow up, the playboy to settle down, and the perpetually searching to stop looking all around for greener grass on the other side.
My friend Glenn Stanton, who studies the sociology of families, has written about the lazy and lackadaisical culture that existed before women and mothers arrived inside America's first permanent English colony at Jamestown, Va.
"Women weren't present, so the men did what they wanted which was pretty much goofing off," he wrote. "The work would be done tomorrow. The women got the men working, planting, harvesting, hunting, building, and in a few decades, the new colonies became something worth talking about and ultimately a nation that was worth fighting for. All because women [and mothers] influenced men."
That's because babies change everything.
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Tragically, women are having fewer children than ever before. In fact, the fertility rate is falling below the replacement rate (a little more than two children per woman) all over the world. Here in America, South Dakota's fertility rate is the best, Vermont is the worst -- and Colorado ranks down at No. 41.
Government incentives ranging from tax cuts to baby bonuses don't seem to have much effect. The reasons behind the decline go well beyond the economic.
Women aren't having as many babies for many reasons, but especially because they're not marrying and fewer people claim a meaningful faith. While even Christians aren't immune, they're still having more children than those who don't claim faith.
Christmas is the right time to broach this sensitive subject. After all, it's the world's greatest birthday today. Jesus' arrival was so monumental that we even use the occasion to designate time, i.e., "B.C." or "Before Christ" and "A.D." or "Anno Domini."
Jesus was a baby who changed everything. It's the day the invisible [God] became visible [Jesus of Nazareth]. It's the day some considered fantastical fiction to became fact, the idea that the Creator literally joined us in His creation.
We sing of His heralded arrival in poetic and profound language: "Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!" Also in poignant verse: "Yet in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight."
Culture's fears won't be soothed by politicians. Even strong policies don't bring lasting hope. What we need are married mothers and fathers of faith having lots of children, boys and girls who grow up to be men and women joining and serving in God's grand plan.
Yes, babies change everything. But Jesus' arrival didn't only change the world. If you accept and honor Him, He can also change you. Merry Christmas!
Paul J. Batura is a local writer and founder of the 4:8 Media Network. He can be reached via email [email protected] or on X @PaulBatura.