If you've spent any time around newborn babies, you have probably discovered that you can get them to grasp your finger tight. Place your finger in the palm of a young baby's hand, a baby who can't seem to do anything but drool, and she will reflexively wrap her tiny, chubby fingers around it. Since I first discovered that babies were fascinating, even when I spent many years afraid to hold one for fear of breaking it, I always loved that feeling. Watching their infant fingers curl, and feeling them squeeze, as they explore and experience the world around them is a beautiful thing.
In a matter of weeks or months, that curiosity and exploration expands and that little one begins to roll, crawl, and eventually stand. The feeling I got when when my daughter would put her little hand in mine so that I could help her stand up was almost unexplainable. It is euphoric, exhilarating, and the epitome of peace. I loved being needed; her dependence on me resulting in some incredible bonding times as I helped her investigate the world around her.
At 2, she isn't particularly interested in dependence. "I do it myself!" is a common exclamation around our house. Occasionally she realizes that she still needs help and reluctantly takes my hand, which just isn't quite the same. But every so often - while going for a walk, getting the mail, or playing together - she will take my hand and walk with me. She will put her tiny, ever-growing hand in mine just because I'm Daddy and she can and she wants to.
When she was a baby, she took my hand out of reflex; it was survival instinct. It was charming and beautiful, but reflexive and basic. Now - now it is a choice, and ever the more beautiful because her heart is choosing to engage mine. She is choosing to be in relationship with me out of love, not dependence. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why God gave us Free Will: Because heart-to-heart engagement will always be more meaningful and enthralling then dutiful dependence.
