Wednesday, January 06, 2010

A child's view of God

When Caleb was little (about 2 yrs old), he tells me he always visualized God as a kid--about 3 yrs old, so just older than himself--with brown hair (cut in a flat top), black sandals, and wearing Caleb's favorite Tigger shirt. Also, he says that God could talk a little better than he could (which was a big deal to 2-year-old Caleb. If you remember, he's the one that could say literally hundreds of words with perfect diction in sentences with perfect grammar on his first birthday--and he was always baffled that other kids couldn't do that. He also corrected the pronunciation of adults with accents when he was 2 and 3 years old!).

Anyway, I found this to be a very interesting interpretation of God, from a toddler's viewpoint (and I don't doubt Caleb remembers it--vs making it up now--because he remembers all kinds of things from that time period that I have forgotten until he reminds me). God was a person like him--a little older and wiser, but not so much older and wiser that he didn't care for kid things anymore or was impossible to understand and relate to. God didn't look like him, but did have a body and a look that was distinct. God wore Caleb's favorite clothes (black sandals and the Tigger shirt), showing He understood what Caleb liked--and God liked it, too (in other words, he's someone who not only understands us, but who can relate to us and we to Him). And he could communicate, which was important to Caleb (especially since most of the kids around him couldn't).

I think Caleb had more right than he, as a big kid now, could ever understand! Not that God is a 3 year old, but that Caleb's vision of God perfectly embodies our relationship with him--or how it could be.

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