A Ritual Memorializing the Thumb

On Monday, my daughter received an orthodontic appliance to prohibit the sucking of her thumb. Yesterday, I looked into the backseat to see that she has discovered a way to insert her thumb between the appliance and the roof of her mouth. Good thing we were on the way back to the orthodontist for her sister at the time. The orthodontist made it impossible for her habit to continue. By last night, the little girl was in tears. She did not know how to go to sleep without her thumb in her mouth. I slept with her as she tossed and turned all night long, and I feel sad with her as she says goodbye to the security of her baby-hood. So I thought a ritual might be in order. I've not yet designed it, but feel it's time.

From I Corinthians 13:11 "When we were children, we thought and reasoned as children do. But when we grew up, we quit our childish ways."

My daughter is, at the age of 7, still a child. But like everything in life, change is bound to happen. We grow. We develop. We change. And sometimes, life changes us. Now is the time for my daughter to give up one of those "childish ways." And it hurts. It hurts when you're 7. It hurts when you're 37 or 47 or 77! But throughout our life we have to give up childish ways. We cherish the memories of the thumb -- the cute smile that was always attached to a thumb and a blanket. We love the security that the sucking brought us, comfort of being close to Mommy, of a snuggle and a peace. And so the giving up of the thumb is a struggle as well, but it doesn't mean we have to give up the memories. It means only that we learn to trust the security and comfort of God more as we fall asleep each night. It means that we develop a new smile, just as beautiful and precious.

So as we let go of the thumb, we pray for God to hold us, like a child, so that we can grow up without our childish ways. We ask to grow as Jesus did, in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and other people. And we ask to do all of this in the comfort of our loving family, in the arms of a God who loves us so very much.

Oh God, take my thumb and use it to love others just as you have used it to show me love. Amen.