What about Babies?
It is not the will of your Father in heaven
that one of these little ones should perish.
Matthew 18:14

First of all, if you have suffered the loss of a child, I am so very sorry. In spite of my experience with multiple loss, I cannot fathom the pain, anguish and despair over the loss of a child regardless of age.

According to Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18th century scientist and mystic who claimed that he was allowed to see into the spiritual world on a daily basis and was "commissioned by God" to write of the things he saw, babies and children of all religions automatically go to Heaven. They will be raised by angels in their homes and they will care tenderly and lovingly for them.

When babies cross over, according to Swedenborg, they appear and are similar to how they are here. They will grow, both spiritually and in appearance (yes, our spiritual bodies look very similar to our physical world bodies - just more perfect), very similarly as babies grow here in the physical world.

They will advance in appearance to that of a young adult. According to Swedenborg, they will meet that one special person and will have the opportunity to be married, enjoying all the blessings of marriage that is known in this world.

Many people worry about whether our loved ones will recognize and know us on the other side - especially infants. Swedenborg wrote that he saw one beautiful reunion scene - that of an old man who was reunited with his brother who died in infancy. The younger brother who died as an infant immediately knew his brother - and vice versa. The one who had lived to old age in the physical world cried that he had never known such love as that shown to him by his brother.

Personal Experience

My mother lost two daughters at birth - the babies were healthy - just severe and traumatic complications at childbirth. After the loss of my first sister (my mother's firstborn), the doctors told her not to worry - that there was a 1 in million chance that it could ever happen again. My mother then had my two brothers without complication. When her 4th child was born, the same complications arose and she lost that daughter too - some 4 years before I was born.

When I was about 10, my mother told me about my sisters - and told me about the vision that she had of them when she was very depressed and despondent. She told me that "in a dream that was no dream - it was real" she saw my two sisters and that they were at the ages that they would have been. They told her how happy they were and she said that they were dressed in the most beautiful dresses imaginable with flowers in their hair. This vision lifted my mother's depression.

Why?

It is terribly confusing to all of us when a child dies. It quite naturally feels "out of order" and that somehow, someway that God has abandoned us. Many churches teach that it is God's will when a loved one dies and when the churches say this in regard to a child's death, it seems and is horribly harsh (and in view of the passage quoted above, apparently not in accord with Scripture - "It is NOT the will of your Father in Heaven..."). New Agers teach that somehow either you or your child has chosen this life and death, which is just as equally harsh-sounding. Both of these explanations are incorrect according to Swedenborg's writings.

It is NEVER God's will that a child dies (or anyone else "before their time"). God initially created a paradise on earth - and this world is for a temporary time - we are made to shed our physical world bodies after years in this life - so that we may enter eternal life. What happens is that sometimes, due to accidents, disease and/or inherited conditions, death occurs much faster than what God originally intended.

Why does disease/accidents/inherited conditions exist if God never intended them in the first place? It occurred eons ago - when mankind first turned their backs on God - and by doing so, brought into existence negative spiritual forces which initially attacked the guilty party. Later, over the course of many years, these negative forces mutated into germs, bacteria, viruses and now attack innocent people. God permits these things as He never violates the free will of anyone. Evil can and does exist in our physical world because God permits it - not because He wills it. God did not create evil and it exists solely because of mankind's direct opposition to Divine Love. It is His will that we live only in goodness, but He will never violate a person's free will.

Well then, what does God do? The Lord said that good is only from God (Luke 18:19) and if we see all the medical discoveries and innovations (as well as anything else that is good in our world) as a gift from God, we can see that He is providing us wonderful and ongoing tools to fight these conditions, and will continue to do so.

Our part in this is to always turn to Him - and to especially turn to Him in times of tragedy. Unbelievably, God can and will bring goodness out of any tragedy, if we only let Him. That's the key, if we only let Him. We hold the power - and God will never violate our free will to turn away from Him. If we but turn just a little bit towards Him and ask for His help, we will always be amazed at what He delivers.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:4

For more information regarding the Afterlife and
Swedenborg's writings, please click on the Links button

Swedenborg wrote that people of all religions were in Heaven 
and his writings are ecumenical cutting across all denominational and religious lines

Music: How I Love You © 1999 Bruce DeBoer