As sure as morning breaks and nightfall comes, lullabies are for children. And each of us was once a child. But who enjoys the lullaby more: the babe in arms or the loving adult who sings it?
Around the world, probably since the beginning of time, lullabies have been passed from one generation to the next, each in its own language and tradition. Lullabies express common themes of love, security, and peace. They call down the protective powers of heaven and express the heart’s desire that a precious child be warm and safe and loved.
Children deserve to hear lullabies, to be held close to their loved ones, and to drift into slumber with peaceful cradlesongs. Children need affection and guidance, safekeeping and stability. They need to feel the unconditional love of parents who rise above personal disappointments or preoccupations to reassure their children. The babies we hold, the children we raise can be taught great truths in such quiet, tender moments. As we sing with voices of love, their little hearts beat in harmony with ours.
Babies are the future of the world. Nearly a hundred years ago, F. M. Bareham wrote: “We fancy God can manage His world only with great battalions, when all the time he is doing it with beautiful babies. When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants discovering, God sends a baby into the world to do it.”[1] Indeed, the infants we cradle are the promise of tomorrow.
One of life’s greatest joys is holding a baby and dreaming of his or her potential and possibilities. In the miracle of life, who knows what the future holds for one small child? That child, every child needs the reassuring embrace of loved ones, the calming, quiet song of a lullaby.
Program #3936
[1] In Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, (1972), 323; paragraphing altered.