Baby giggles, God.

It’s the best gift you ever gave us.

Better than kittens,

better than sunsets,

better than chocolate.

Guaranteed to lift me up from

whatever abyss I’m in,

guaranteed to force even somber souls

to suppress a smile,

guaranteed to make the world

a happier place, for at least a

heartbeat.

Imagine what might happen, Lord,

if all across the world, each day,

all of us—presidents, prisoners,

shift workers, shopkeepers,

zookeepers and zealots alike—

took two minutes to listen to

baby giggles.

Oh, what a different world we’d have!

For in those lyrical laughs, those

lusty, honest chuckles,

one hears the echoes of

Eden’s innocence

one more time.

 

From A New Mother’s Prayers (Loyola Press, 2004).

Used with the author’s permission.