When a Child Is Born

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This past week, our family increase by one beautiful little girl. Unlike when her sister and cousins were born, there was no family around, except her Mom and Dad, of course, to greet her when she entered this world. This didn't seem to bother her at all. She simply got to the tasks at hand, nursing and napping and doing what babies do in the first hours of life.

Pictures of our Madeleine crossed cyberspace at record speeds; all of us oohing and aahing at how much she looks like her Mom and how much hair she has. Prayers of thanksgiving rose from various corners - for our new child as well as her safe and simple delivery.

Madeleine and Mommy are both at home, now. I plan on going to see them in a few weeks. In the meantime, the birth of grandchild #12 has me contemplating children as a whole.

Childhood today is so different from what I experienced over 60 years ago. Today, in a world still battling a virus that has take so many lives, childhood is wrapped in precautions, fear, and frustration.  Yet, children are so resilient!  

Watching my grandchildren during my first visit with them in over a year, I witnessed joy that was unbounded. The older children played with the younger children. There was so much laughter...a sound that instantly lifts the spirit! There was wonder at what the new baby would be like, when she would come and what her name would be. Joy, Laughter and Wonder - what more can we ask?

Today, as I sit in my garden, listening to the birds sing their praises, I lift my thoughts and prayers to the Divine in thanksgiving for children - for their resilience to find joy, laughter and wonder in this crazy world in which they find themselves. May we, too, have the courage and wisdom to stop, wonder, laugh and be filled with the joy of simply being.

Blessings! 
 

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