Pacifiers and Pure Milk

When it comes to caring for babies, I find myself to be a bit deficient biologically. Oh, I have the quickest hands in the house when it is time to change a diaper, but when it comes to feeding I'm not much help. I have learned, therefore, to be a big fan of pacifiers. There are times when Blaise is hungry and he needs to be with Caitlin, but when he is just unhappy, when he just needs comfort, I can swoop in with the pacifier and put all to rights. I have learned that each kid has his or her own pacifier preference. Basil is a bougie baby. When he was born, we received a sample from an expensive pacifier brand and once Basil tried it, he refused to use any other. Blaise seems to be a bit less discerning, but no less committed to the pacifier life. It solves all the problems! All the problems except when I think the pacifier is the solution and he actually needs to eat. I can buy him off for a time, probably far beyond what he would prefer. He dutifully sucks on the pacifier expecting to find milk, spitting it out when it can't provide what he is looking for. Again and again the cycle repeats, until I finally realize he has a true need that can't be satisfied with the imitation I can supply.

While pacifiers didn't exist at the end of the first century, I wonder if Peter had something like them in mind when he wrote in his first letter, "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good" (1 Peter 2:1-3). Sometimes in life we need something to help soothe our fears and distract our minds. Sometimes we let negative patterns and habits distract us from our true needs. Int he Lord we find true sustenance for our souls. As we dwell with God and the community of believers we are fed and encouraged and given antibodies for the world. If we lean too hard on our pacifiers we will just keep fooling ourselves with an imitation of what we need. What is the pacifier in your life? What nourishment from God are you looking forward today?