Joined in 2023 
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63 About this deal
If you accept it, you will have to do it for twenty years. Before you commit, you are not allowed to try it out or even meet your boss/ coworker. Consequently, you may have no idea if you will like the job or the person. Nor will you know until you start it if you will love or hate it. During the three months of your apprenticeship, you will endure sleepless nights, twenty-four hour shifts, seven days a week. Sound good so far?
In its immediate context, the story follows the account of Solomon's dream at Gibeon, in which he was promised by God he would be given unprecedented wisdom. Most scholars read the story at face value and conclude that its major purpose is to demonstrate the fulfilment of the divine promise and to illustrate Solomon's wisdom expressed in juridical form. Other scholars also recognize in this story, as in other parts of the account of Solomon's reign, ironic elements which are not consistent with the story's overt purpose to glorify Solomon. Sweeney, Marvin A., I & II Kings (Old Testament Library), Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2007, ISBN 9780664220846, pp.81–82 Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Judicium Salomonis H. 422, Oratorio for soloists, chorus, woodwinds, strings, and continuo. (1702) Begg, Christopher T., "The Judgment of Solomon according to Josephus", Theologische Zeitschrift 62/3 (2006), pp.452–61 This theme has long been a popular subject for artists and is often chosen for the decoration of courthouses. In the Netherlands, many 17th century courthouses ( Vierschaar rooms) contain a painting or relief of this scene. Elsewhere in Europe, celebrated examples include:
From the Baby Decision Blog
Janet Surrey, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist and Meditation Teacher specializing in Diversity, Mothering, Adoption, and Substance Abuse. Her latest book is The Buddha’s Wife: The Path of Awakening Together The Baby Decision is an indispensable guide to greater awareness and freedom for anyone wrestling with one of life's most important decisions. Bombardieri provides a lens that illuminates the architecture of healthy decision-making. Brimming with humanity and respect, informed by research and infused with clinical wisdom, this book is a gem." Marvin A. Sweeney, I & II Kings (Old Testament Library), Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2007, pp. 73, 82. Similarly, if you and your partner are in conflict over the decision, you may be tempted to go straight to Chapter 6, Tug-of-War. Please don’t. Only if you both carefully examine your own needs and wishes will you be sure that you are talking about and negotiating the right issues. I love my wife and I feel like I will destroy her if I come to the conclusion that I don't want children, since we discussed it when we were dating and, at the time, we both wanted children. But I fear I may have changed my wants and needs, and may be on a different path.
The short story " Popular Mechanics" by Raymond Carver ends with a baby being pulled between two parents, ultimately being harmed in some unspoken way in homage to the biblical story. The sayings of the shrine, like dreams, were not to be received passively; the recipients had to live themselves into the message. . . . The counsels of Delphi were not advice in the strictest sense, but rather were stimulants to look inward, to consult their own intuition and wisdom. Lasine, Stuart, "The Riddle of Solomon’s Judgment and the Riddle of Human Nature in the Hebrew Bible", Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 45 (1989), pp.61–86 The word decide comes from a Latin root meaning to cut away from. Thus, decision-making, by its very nature, involves loss; we have to give up one or more options while at the same time grasping another. When we decide to have a child, we cut ourselves off from the freedom and other satisfactions of childfree living. Similarly, the decision to remain childfree means that we must give up the intimacy and joys of parenting. By not deciding, we hold onto the illusion that we can have it both ways—that we don’t have to give up anything. Nor do we have to face the risk of discovering that we’ve made the wrong decision.
Chapter 1: A Bird’s Eye View
DeVries, Simon J., 1 Kings (Word Biblical Commentary), Waco, TX: Word Books, 1985, ISBN 0849902118, pp.56–62 Stephanie Morgan, MSW, Psy.D. Psychologist, Private Practice. Co-author, Mindfulness and Psychotherapy, and Compassion and Wisdom in Psychotherapy.
This brings me to another thing that I really liked about this book: it is very unbiased towards either outcome. It makes it very clear that this is a personal decision and that the only right decision is the one that is right for you. Bombardieri is a therapist and so has had a lot of clients that she guided through this process. She uses their experiences to give examples of how the exercices helped other people gain valuable insights on their feelings and values. For each example of a pro-parent decision, she gives another of a pro-childfree decision and vice versa. I really liked that. It really shows you that either decision is a valid one, as long as it is yours. a b William Hansen, Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2002, p. 228. Solomon said, “Don't kill the baby.” Then he pointed to the first woman, “She is his real mother. Give the baby to her.”
Kayla Sheets, Genetic Counselor, Founder of Vibrant Gene Praise for the first edition of The Baby Decision The exercises in Chapter 2, Secret Doors will extricate you from tangled, distracting thoughts so you can make a clear decision. The following guidelines will increase the effectiveness of the exercises. According to Raymond Westbrook, the story is essentially a hypothetical problem, introduced to the recipient as a pure intellectual challenge and not as a concrete juridical case. In such problems, any unnecessary detail is usually omitted and this is why the characters in the story have no distinctive characteristics. The description of the case eliminates the possibility of obtaining circumstantial evidence, thereby forcing the recipient to confront the dilemma directly and not seek indirect ways to solve it. [17] Gunkel, Hermann, The Folktale in the Old Testament (Historic Texts and Interpreters in Biblical Scholarship), translated by Michael D. Rutter, Sheffield, UK: Almond, 1987, ISBN 1850750319, pp.155–56
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