“Mum and Dad, you know what God is doing?”

Well I was about to host the church gathering, so I was pretty intrigued at that level.  On a more macro scale, I was pretty intrigued too … wouldn’t it be lovely to know what God is doing?  In our family?  In our city?  In the church?  In the world?  I would love to know what God is doing …

“He is making people better!”

It is so simple to a 4 year old.  But just maybe he is on to something…

"God doesn’t make you ill.  In fact, God is very sad that people get ill."  I said.  I wish I had left it there.  "When he first made the world, no-body got ill".

My first mistake.  Big mistake.

"So how did people start getting ill?" said Toby.  Good question, Toby.  Very good question.

So how would you describe to a 4½ year old about the origins of illness?

For my response … click on "read the rest" …

Mind working fast:  How do you tell a small person about sin, and rebellion, and how sin brings in death and decay?

"Would you like me to tell you a story Toby?"  "Oh yes Dad, please".

"Well, a long long time ago, when God made the world, it was a very good place to live.  For all the people who lived there, no-one got ill, no-one would die, and nothing would break"

"What ‘nothing’?" exclaimed Toby.  "not even toys".  (you can see what is important to him!)

"No, net even toys!  Now there was a man called Adam and woman called Eve, and they were husband and wife, like Mummy and Daddy.  And they lived in a beautiful garden, with lots of lovely places to explore and different things to eat.  But there was one tree that God said you must not eat from: it would make them sick.  You know the plant in our garden, Toby, with red berries on that Mummy and Daddy say that you mustn’t eat because you would be ill?  Well it was like that.  If Adam and Eve ate the fruit from this tree, they would be sick."

"And guess what Adam and Eve did?  Well they ate the fruit from that tree, and they got sick.  And that is how people started getting ill.  But God is working very hard to make the world a better place, where people don’t get sick or die, and things don’t break."

"Oh that would be wonderful" grinned Toby.  Yes it would!

And here is my thought that emerged from this interaction with Toby: that "story" moves beyond the questions of a literal (or otherwise) interpretation of Gen 1 – 3, because story connects profoundly with our human experience.  We find our own lives and experience mirrored in the story, and somehow it really doesn’t matter if it was 6 days or not etc., because we find at a much deeper level that the story is true, shedding light on God, ourselves, our experience and longings as we navigate our way in this world.