Today: The magic in a child’s heart.

As I held my 13 month old granddaughter Carina gently but firmly in my arms she looked at me with her twinkling brown eyes and a smile that beamed so brightly, it showed all of her tiny teeth, two on the top, and two on the bottom.

In an instant of shear joy she placed her forehead on mine and called out in her high pitched baby voice a universal message of bliss, while her teeny fingers gripped my cheeks. Carina was happy and her joy burst forth like a ray of sunshine that lights up everything in its path.

But not so long ago Carina nearly died. She was born six weeks premature struggling to survive. One of her tiny lungs collapsed and to save her, emergency surgery inserted a tube into her chest to re-inflate that lung.

Because she was so premature, her sucking response was weak and to keep her fed, a feeding tube was inserted into her nose to send a formula directly into her stomach. She was hospitalized for three weeks, much of it in neonatal intensive care.

Today however, this baby girl is thriving and weighs a hefty 22 pounds and has a double chin, fat legs and a pot belly to prove it.

Whether it’s Carina or your precious child or grandchild or someone else’s, there is so much love a baby has to offer that it can uplift your heart and make you glad to be alive.

There is magic taking place. For not only is this child adorable but he or she has found the way to reach your heart and the hearts of the rest of us as well.

What is this magic? Sure a baby is cute but there are certain things that touch us and if we can capture a bit of it, at whatever our age, it could make our lives and the lives of those around us happier. It’s a potent combination, the wisdom of age and the vigor of youth:

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. Carina doesn’t know me as her grandfather. She and other babies are able to share love unconditionally. Puppies and kittens are also cute and do the same. That’s why we are attracted to them.

But when we grow older, we love conditionally. We give or withhold love often based on what we want from someone. Yet we admire those who have unconditional love for all of mankind. Jesus, Muhammad, Gandhi, St. Francis and Mother Teresa are fine examples.

You and I too have the capacity to unconditionally love if only we seek it from within the deepest part of our being.

DISCOVERIES. A baby is always discovering something new. So could you and I for there is so much we have yet to learn. There is so much I don’t know yet. How about you?

HOPE. Without being aware of it, babies believe in the future, even in the next moment. Whereas we as adults are often fearful and react accordingly. An economic crisis hits and people panic yet with hope we could see opportunities where we now see only darkness.

AWE. Babies are often in awe, sometimes of things as simple as the clinking of car keys. But we as adults are often preoccupied and miss such fascinating things as the heavenly scent of a rose in bloom or the glow of a sunset lighting the brilliant blue sky in shades of orange.