Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 (NIV)
We’ve all had those questions before. You know, the ones you can’t answer or don’t want to think about, so you try to dismiss them with a quick and easy answer. Maybe an answer just acceptable enough to deflect the question so the conversation can move on to something else.
But you can’t dismiss a Grandchild’s question. Oh, I suppose you could, but you really shouldn’t—never, ever. And if the truth be told, the same applies to your child—it’s just that with a Grandchild you’ve been given that second chance to get some things right.
Well, our younger Granddaughter Ellie Kate’s question seemed to come from out of nowhere. We weren’t talking about anything related to what she asked. Occasionally she’d sing out a few “Alleluias” for no apparent reason—except to bring a warm smile to our faces and hearts. We were just hanging out in the kitchen laughing and doing things you don’t usually do unless blessed with a visit by precious Granddaughters. And then Ellie Kate—now four-years-old—hung her question out in the air to haunt us for the ages.
“Gran,” and then she paused for a moment to make sure she had my attention as she finished the climb onto the kitchen counter. I could tell from the inflection in her voice that something serious was on the way.
“Yes, sweetie.” I readied myself for what was coming.
“Gran…how was God born with nobody?”
Anybody? Please! She knows about the Baby Jesus, and Mary and Joseph. But this question was not about the birth of Baby Jesus, but about Jesus’ Daddy—God the Father. How was He born with nobody?
Brief outlines and catchy phrases related to the theories of Creation, Evolution and Big Bang danced through my head. I even thought for a moment of sharing my “Brick-Wall Theory” to prove that God is and has to be the real deal, always has been, and was here to create it all in the beginning. Simply stated—if you go out as far as you can into the universe, reach or envision what you think to be the end, and then build a brick wall at that spot; what would be on the other side of the wall? That has the potential of keeping me up at night; until I remember…God. Has to be God—something so infinite and extravagant—that it is beyond explanation. Anyway, the brick-wall analysis helps me.
But there it was, hanging in the air: “Gran, how was God born with nobody?”
And my first response: “I don’t know, sweetie.”
“I don’t know” has become a staple for me as I have come to realize the truth of that and haven’t felt compelled to demonstrate my knowledge (or lack of, may be more appropriate) to a particular issue or subject.
And then with the benefit of a moment of reflection, I repeated:
“I don’t know sweetie.”
And then added: “That’s what’s so great about God—somehow He started everything and made all this in the world, and you and me, and Himself, and one day He’ll tell us how He did it. One day He can answer your question about how He was born with nobody.”
No deflection there, I hope. Just an honest admission of ignorance. Stemming from a total lack of knowledge. But then we should all remember before we pretend to understand the ways of the God of the universe, the God Who created it all—that we’re armed with finite minds and abilities while dealing with and trying to understand an infinite God. No contest.
I’m sure in the days ahead Ellie Kate and Hannah will continue to amaze, bewilder and challenge us with the questions they hang in the air for us to ponder. There are still a few out there which their Daddy threw out when he was younger—which are still in need of an answer.
Maybe not today. One day. One day.
God—yesterday, today, every day, and for all our days.
In His Name—Scott
Copyright 2009. Scott L. Whitaker. All rights reserved.
