isaiah, my son, put together a large floor puzzle of the universe yesterday with his friend micah. this morning, as we were getting stuff together to leave for the drive across town to the kid's art camp and my office, isaiah opines, "dad, what if the planets crashed into each other and that is how god was made?" thus started a conversation about the origins of god and all things that lasted 15 minutes--almost our whole drive. the gist of the conversation was his idea that someone or something must have made god. so i had the delightful task of seeking to describe the orthodox teaching of creatio ex nihilo to a seven-year-old. isaiah is quite thoughtful theologically (i've blogged on his reflections before here)
i told him that we believe that god made everything, and so god even made the planets. well, he said, what if a comet came exploding across the sky and that made god and then god made the planets? okay, i said, nice image. their is an old way of talking about this that says god was the first mover--before god made the world, there was nothing to fly or move, and god got it all started. so, he said, god must have been in some other galaxy in the milky way and came over to our world and created it. well, if god created everything, really everything, then there would not be anyplace god could go before god made it. hmm, he said, so if god made everything, then is god everything? good question, i said, god is in everything, but god is not everything. it is like you--you came from mommy and me, and we are in you, but you are not us. you are you. that's like god. god made us, we're from god, god is in us, but we are not god.
hmm, he said, so if god is in everyone, that is how we can all be in the same family, right? all people? but then we should all be rich, daddy, because in our family we all share and so if we're all in the same family, all people should share and have enough. I said, wow, isaiah, that's right. but some people have lots of money and don't really want to share. other people have a lot of money and they share a lot of money, too.
it is a delight to be a parent. it is also amazing how much we undervalue the ability of young people to understand big ideas. so often kids in sunday school are taught crap and they are capable of so much. these are big ideas, ideas that will orient a life, that shape a space within which the spirit can work and lead in his life. too many kids grow up not even knowing the depth and breadth of their own tradition so when they reject it in their teens or early twenties, they reject a wooden caricature.
i dedicated my book on u2 to isaiah and grace, my two kids, and to their sponsor-sister, rose. partly i did this because the book is an introduction to the faith i hold dear and the book is an invitation to faith as a way of life. i hope for them to find a vibrant faith and while not confining their minds, i want to offer them footholds as they explore the well of living water that we who follow jesus claim as our source of life.
anon, and +peace
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