From the File Friday: Is My Baby Still There?

From the File Friday will offer some quick hits from books, experiences, past content, new information, or a reader’s question. Who knows what you might get on a Friday. Before moving on. I know, AI images are overdone, but they are quick and keep you from getting flagged for copyright infringement. 

Atlas on Fear

One of the books I’m currently reading is Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged (1957). I rarely read fiction, but when I do it’s typically a proven classic that has contributed to culture. I’m often amazed at how old books still hold relevance as if they were written last week. 

There is a scene in the third chapter in which one of the protagonists in the story, Dagny Taggart, is leaving a building and stops to talk to the old man who runs the corner newsstand. The man shares an observation about how he has noticed the change in people.

“I don’t know. But I’ve watched them here for twenty years and I’ve seen the change. They used to rush through here, and it was wonderful to watch, it was the hurry of men who knew where they were going and were eager to get there. Now they’re hurrying because they are afraid. It’s not purpose that drives them, it’s fear. They’re not going anywhere, they’re escaping. And I don’t think they know what it is that they want to escape. They don’t look at each one another. They jerk when brushed against. They smile too much, but it’s an ugly kind of smiling: it’s not joy, it’s pleading. I don’t know what it is that’s happening to the world.” He shrugged. “Oh well, who is John Galt?”

This statement feels recent. We are no longer driven to produce and achieve only to avoid. We want comments and clicks on computers but avoid conversations. We are more about influence than innovation. We are so afraid to fail that we no longer try. 

And who is John Galt? At this point in the book it’s a seemingly pointless question that gets repeated – unanswerable, unanchored in reality. It calls attention to the frivolous, tautological pursuits of our time on social media.

Tales of a First Grade Atheist

Since I’m bringing the blog “back,” though it never technically went away, I want to recall the first article I ever posted. June of next year will mark 20 years of Feel My Faith. Perhaps we need to plan a party! 

But the little girl in this article is now 26 and next week she will give us grandbaby number 2! 

Looking back on this article, I’m proud of both of my girls and the godly women they have become. They are different people who have travelled different paths. Both have had their challenges and crisis of faith moments, but they both love the Lord and walk in faith. 

Here’s the link: Tales of a First Grade Atheist 

Is My Baby Still There?

I round out the week by sharing a story that I’m sure will become a sermon illustration at some point. It’s still so shocking, I’m not sure what the application is – other than to make sure you shut your car door.

But I was leaving the barber shop and opening the door of my truck when I noticed an approaching car. As the car approached the back passenger door swung open and I saw a baby in a car seat. 

I started to run after the car and yell, hoping to get the driver’s attention, but fortunately she slowed down and pulled into a parking space near me. 

I hurried over to her car. I noticed the baby was fine, secure in her car seat. Oblivious to the danger of the whole situation.

I then went over to the driver, got her attention and said, “Ma’am, did you know that your car door came open as you were driving?” 

Frantically, she got out of the car and asked, “Is my baby still there?”

Everyone was fine but she was frantic. Maybe it goes back to what the newsstand owner said in Atlas Shrugged chapter 3. Maybe she was running from fear. Maybe she was escaping. Maybe she was just in a hurry to nothing. I don’t know. She seemed like she wanted to get her baby and move on from me, so I let her go with very little conversation.

But she either didn’t shut the door or didn’t shut it well. And as she was driving she didn’t notice that her car door was swinging wildly as she traveled down the street. And then her question . . . “Is my baby still there?”

That’s the part of all of this I can’t get out of my head. Fear. Terror. Has my life taken a tragic turn? 

That’s sort of where I was with my first-grade atheist. And it is a place you’re often in as a parent whether it be your child’s faith or other choices they might make. What did I do wrong? Is she still there? Did I get in a hurry carelessly leave something unlatched? Am I just running from fear?

That part of her story ended well, but it made me wonder: is she well? Is her life going well? Is my baby still there?

Who is John Galt?