My little pumpkin,
When I came to pick you up from the parent-and-toddler group this morning you span away from your mum, blonde curls bouncing and blues eyes glowing, crying “daddy!” before rushing over to give me a hug. As I hugged you I gave your mum a quick smooch, and you mimicked us and kissed me too — we both laughed.
I gushed with warmth and love and affection, but also …something else.
As I squeezed your little heart to mine, my mind was suddenly flooded by the hundreds of images I have seen of fathers and daughters in another land, many miles from us, who are not as lucky as we are. A land called Palestine.
In an instant I was no longer safe and warm with my beautiful wife and daughter.
My head was swamped by all the moments I’ve seen of fathers holding their children, just as I was holding you, except that their hearts were no longer beating.
Their heads rolled back not in laughter, but lifelessly, their pretty eyes closed for the last time. Their fathers kissing their heads, squeezing them tight, begging their little chests to rise and fall again.
It was only a brief moment, but brief moments can last an eternity.
You see pumpkin, for over 100 days now millions of us have witnessed one group of people do unspeakably horrific things to another. We have stared into these stupid little pocket devices that we euphemistically call “smartphones” and watched as a country called Israel has dropped thousands upon thousands of tons of bombs on families living in a land called Palestine.
Day and night, come rain or shine, little girls and boys shiver in icy fear and cry out for their mums and dads as the sky rains death upon them.
And what’s all the more chilling, is how there are some people in this world who are cheering death on from the sidelines. They jeer as Israeli soldiers look through the scopes of their guns before blowing the life out of a mother, her child still holding her hand. They applaud as the soldiers strip men and little boys naked and then kneel them in the freezing dirt for hours.
Gleefully, they cry for more and more, wild with bloodlust and mad with hatred.
I know you’re wondering how and why people can do this to others. You see pumpkin, we are born into this world small, scared and vulnerable, and we rely on those nearest and dearest to us to feel safe and secure and happy.
Unfortunately many children learn that to be small, scared and vulnerable is a weakness that must be stomped out. And so they grow up to bully — and even hate — those who they believe are “less” and “weaker” than them.
Some people think that life is a competition, and they’re terrified of being the loser. Others think that they need to defeat their neighbours in order to be winners.
I hope I raise you to know that vulnerability isn’t a weakness. That your human fragility is a virtue not a flaw.
And I hope you know this pumpkin: if you’re ever unsure of who is the bully, ask yourself: who is the most powerful? And how are they treating those smaller or weaker than themselves?
