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“When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded is in thee also.”
(2 Timothy 1:5, kjv)

Is mother to thank for one’s happiness? Do happy mothers produce happy children? To answer this question, an examination of a mysterious verse in an early Old Testament book might help - a verse that has been pondered by theologians for almost 3,500 years; a verse with a puzzle we need to solve. Thus, with that arduous task but also with the prize of happiness in sight - or at least happiness in part - let us begin.

The Old Testament book in which the puzzle appears is Deuteronomy, written circa 1405 BC in the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from the famed walled city of Jericho. The venerable Moses, in the final years of his life, was the author. The conundrum was given to the next generation before they entered the challenging and exciting life in the Promised Land. The full implications of the mystery in these words might have also been given to our generation, because we have the scientific knowledge to understand the passage as never before. Yes, the instructions were true and needed to be heeded in 1405 BC, as they are today, yet the deep implications given to that new generation with a daunting task in front of them are just as much needed for us today. In other words, science may take years to catch us up to enigmas spoken by God years before. Here is the puzzle, the traditional theological explanation, and new scientific information - information so new it has only appeared in the scientific literature and not in lay literature, to my knowledge, before now.

Here is the mysterious passage: “Thou shalt not bore down thyself, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Deuteronomy 5:9).

The most often accepted theological exegesis of this passage revolves around the concept of sowing and reaping. Galatians 6:7 in the New Testament states plainly, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Thus, by implication, happy mother’s produce happy children, and unhappy mothers produce unhappy children.

Here are the scientific connections to this concept, based on contemporary research:

• Stressed (unhappy) women tend to produce stressed (unhappy) babies.
• Stress (unhappiness) in the mother results in increased cortisol (the stress hormone) in the fetus. In other words, increased cortisol in the mother results in increased cortisol that crosses the placenta to the baby.
• The increased stress hormone, cortisol, alters in the baby what is known as the braking system of the HPA (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal) axis.
• The braking (correcting, emotional, balancing system of the HPA) is lacking in the baby and is carried into adulthood; it may never abate and may be carried to the next generation and the next, etc. The normal stress response has been altered, and a person may be more prone to depression for life and chemically may pass it to future generations.
• Unhappiness (stress) can eventually reach the genes. Consider this: the HPA axis is regulated by the CRH (corticotroin-releasing hormone) and AVP (arginine vasopressin) genes. Vasopressin regulates stress hormones. The genes are now involved in happiness.
• One more step in the chemistry is important. Stress in early life results in inhibition of a protein (MeCP2) which results in decreased methylation in the regulatory region for the AVP gene, the on/off switch for AVP, which results in increased vasopressin and increased stress hormones, or increased tendency toward unhappiness.
• Now, the opposite of unhappiness is true for happiness. Happy mothers are more likely to have a healthy HPA axis, a balanced brake (balancing) system when stress does come, and therefore happier babies.
• Indeed, a happy mother is at least in part to thank for happiness.

Bottom Line: If you are a parent, BE HAPPY!

You are impacting your children, and probably generations to come!

• Which habits did your children inherited from you?

Rejoicing, On the Victory Side!

Beau

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