A child asks, “ So we have a father in heaven.”
Last week I was thinking about when I became, ‘God conscious’ and while writing about it the memory of reciting ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ flashed back to me. The memory was me kneeling by my bed with my hands clasped under my chin with my mother leading and me repeating the words.
During the week I found myself listening to what could have been my 3-year-old self, the conversation went something like this (forgive the humour) …….
“ Our Father, so we have a father in heaven as well as on earth, hold on heaven, what’s that?”
“Heaven’s a place that we go when we die.”
“Die what is that?”
“Well you live and then one day you stop living.”
“O that does not sound so good. What, I no longer exist?”
“Well, you go to another place.”
“So how do I get there?”
“Well I am not quite sure, it’s a belief, like going to Newcastle. I am not sure how we get there but the bus does.”
“So you are like adopted parents?”
“I suppose.”
“And one day I will return to God?”
“Yes, that sounds about right.”
“What about the ‘Our Father’, is he the father of everyone?”
“ Well the creator of everyone but he is only father to the Protestants.”
“So what’s a Protestant?”
“ A question for another day.”
“What if I don’t have another day?”
“Protestants believe you have to ask Jesus into your heart to get to heaven.”
“But Jesus is not in the prayer!”
“No, but it is his prayer to his father that he shared with us.”
“So Jesus is a Protestant?”
“No, he was a Jew.”
“What’s a Jew?”
“Well, Jews were God’s first chosen people. God said one day he would send someone to save his people.”
“Save them from what?”
“People who were not very nice to them. As it happens the Jews were not convinced Jesus was the one sent by God, some were though most weren’t, so he became the saviour of anyone who needed to be saved.”
“Can he save me from nasty people?”
“Well as you get older you may also be nasty and you will need saving from yourself. For now, you only need to know God is your father in heaven.”
“Ok, can we start again?”
“Our Father….”
“Our Father…”
g
Photo: the earliest photo I have of me ( I am the baby to the right)
