I see that children fill the existential hollowness many people feel; that when we have children, we know they will need us, and maybe love us, but we don't have a clue how hard it is going to be.

We can't understand when we're pregnant, or when our siblings are expecting, how profound it is to have a shared history with a younger generation: blood, genes, humor. It means we were actually here, on Earth, for a time - like the Egyptians with their pyramids, only with children.

And you try to quiet your mind so you can hear.

I'm human, you're human, let me greet your humanness. Let's be people together for a while.

Laughter is carbonated holiness.

Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.

Churches are good for prayer, but so are garages and cars and mountains and showers and dance floors.