Talking about God and death with a seven year old.

Talking about God and death with a seven year old....

Yesterday a kid in my daughters class announced suddenly that "God is not real".

Today on the school run Jasmine asked me what I believe, and I found my self trying to explain the difference between the idea that God is that beardy man in the sky, who says if you are allowed to come to his party or not, and the idea that God is a word for the part in all of us that can love and does not die, and the connection between us.

The ground was littered with seeds so I picked one up and said, imagine the seed is your body and my hand is you. "You can tell the seed to hug mummy and it hugs mummy...it does what you want". I got another and we made them hug. I talked about my hands, "this part can't be seen or touched, but it's you, it does all the thinking and loving and it does not die when you die, this part in all of us and the connection between these parts is what I think God is." I let the seeds go to demonstrate death and as they twirled softly to the ground leaving my hands totally unchanged in the autumn sunshine I felt a whole lot of relief myself, from the loss of people who have died in my life.

This is the unexpected magic of children, they make you think, feel and look newly every day.

p.s. I really don't intend to put down anyone else's religion with this post, all mankind's spiritual ideas are treasures and valid.