Several years ago, a friend forwarded to me the following piece written by 8-year-old Danny of Chula Vista, Calif., as a third-grade homework assignment to explain God. Although I've been unable to trace the source, it seems genuine. I guarantee you'll enjoy it. Here's Danny:
"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones who die so there will be enough people to take care of things here on Earth. He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think they are smaller and easier to make. That way, He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to walk and talk. He can just leave that to the mothers and fathers.
"God's second-most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times besides bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV on account of this. Since He hears everything, not only prayers, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears unless He has thought of a way to turn it off.
"God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your parents' head and asking for something they said you couldn't have.
"Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.
"Jesus is God's son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said OK.
"His Dad 'God' appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so he told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in Heaven. So He did.
"And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important of course. You can pray any time you want and they are sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.
"You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong! And besides, the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.
"If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown in deep water by big kids.
"But you shouldn't always just think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases. And that's why I believe in God."
Lord, transform our worlds by letting us see you with Danny's eyes, the childlike eyes of faith.
Inspire your children by reading this column with them and visiting the Kids Talk About God website at www.KidsTalkAboutGod.org. Bible quotations are from the New King James Version. To find out more about Carey Kinsolving and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2004 CAREY KINSOLVING
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