Massaging Infants and Toddlers

In the Prologue to Frank Schaeffer's new book Patience With God, posted on Frank's blog at http://frank-schaeffer.blogspot.com/, Frank tells us that one of the greatest joys of his life is massaging his baby grand-daughter, Lucy. Frank helps Lucy to stretch after her naps by rubbing her limbs. This type of loving massage is wonderful for babies and toddlers. Here are some of the wonderful things that come from this loving massage--for the baby as well as for the parent or grand-parent or other loving adult.

• WELCOME TO EARTH. The baby is a spirit newly arrived on earth in physical form. Massage helps the baby make the transition to the physical. This loving physical touch welcomes the baby, letting the baby feel at home on our physical earth. It tells the baby that the physical aspects of life are good. The massage feels good, and being in a physical body is good. A massaged baby soon feels at home on earth.
• DEFINING THE BODY. Massage helps the baby define the body. As the loving adult touches the baby's body, the baby develops a sense of being in a body, of feeling the body's various parts as they are touched. A massaged baby feels comfortable in her body.
• DEEP SENSE OF LOVE. Massage physically infuses love into a baby's very bones. The baby literally feels the love pouring into her. A massaged baby knows at a bone-deep level that she is loved.
• TIMELESS PLACE. The loving adult giving the massage is transported to a place beyond time. That is, time falls away and the loving adult exists purely in the present moment, flowing with the love between baby and adult and the physical rhythm of the massage. This is wonderful for the adult--a time away from cares, a time to replenish life energy, a time to simply be.
• DEEP BONDS. Loving massage creates and strengthens a deep bond of love between the baby and the adult. This bond will last throughout life on earth and into eternity.

In a previous post, I mentioned the concept of mitzvah, described by Kathy in How Free People Move Mountains by Kathy Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer. A mitzvah is a good deed. The good deed itself is a blessing. In fact, the good deed is such a blessing that one may not even recognize that one is doing a good deed. One may simply feel blessed. When a loving adult massages a baby, this is a mitzvah.