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Do you really think that you completely know God? Wait then till you hear it from a child.
When Morning was about 4 or 5 years old, he would always join my Tatay in fetching me from my office at the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Quezon City. One late night on our way home, we were traversing North Avenue when he saw some people including children sleeping under the waiting shed in front of the SRA Building, just a block away from my office. Our Q&A session began:
“Bakit sila natutulog sa daan?” he asked. (Why are they sleeping on the street?)
“Kasi wala silang bahay,” I quickly replied. (Because they have no home.)
“Bakit wala silang bahay?” was his followup question. (Why don't they have a home?)
“Kasi mahirap lang sila,” I answered. (Because they are poor.)
He quickly returned with the question: “Tayo ba mayaman?” (Are we rich?)
At this point, I was still not aware that he was already analyzing my answers, so I lazily replied: “Hindi. OK lang.” (No, we're just OK.)
“E bakit tayo may bahay?” he followed up. (But, why do we have a house?)
“Kasi mahal tayo ni God,” was my proud response, thinking that it would end our Q&A session. (Because God loves us.)
I was dead wrong.
Without batting an eyelash he quipped: “Bakit sila, hindi ba sila mahal ni God?” (Why, doesn't God love them?)
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If only I could, I would have melted right there and then. Yes, in shame. I saw Tatay half-smiling but I know I made him upset that night for my not handling it well with Morning. And I know I disappointed God for somehow disorienting an innocent child’s belief in His fairness and equal love for all of us.
I don’t anymore remember how long it took me to respond to Morning’s last question, but I vividly recall how I stammered on my answer. I remember I told him that God, of course, loves all of us equally but people are poorer than the others because of their own doing and undoing. That they don’t strive, they were lazy in school, which is why they don’t get a job when they are old. (My friends told me that it was a good answer, that is, of course, minus the bumbling.)
But recovering from that boo-boo, I guess, would take my whole lifetime. To this day, I have to be very careful with how I use “God” in my lectures about life to Morning and the kids around me.
And boy was it a humbling experience esp. for a Church person like me, who all these years has been portraying to be someone who completely knows Him.
That night, a child reminded me, I don’t.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”-- Ecclesiastes Chapter 3:11
When Morning was about 4 or 5 years old, he would always join my Tatay in fetching me from my office at the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Quezon City. One late night on our way home, we were traversing North Avenue when he saw some people including children sleeping under the waiting shed in front of the SRA Building, just a block away from my office. Our Q&A session began:
“Bakit sila natutulog sa daan?” he asked. (Why are they sleeping on the street?)
“Kasi wala silang bahay,” I quickly replied. (Because they have no home.)
“Bakit wala silang bahay?” was his followup question. (Why don't they have a home?)
“Kasi mahirap lang sila,” I answered. (Because they are poor.)
He quickly returned with the question: “Tayo ba mayaman?” (Are we rich?)
At this point, I was still not aware that he was already analyzing my answers, so I lazily replied: “Hindi. OK lang.” (No, we're just OK.)
“E bakit tayo may bahay?” he followed up. (But, why do we have a house?)
“Kasi mahal tayo ni God,” was my proud response, thinking that it would end our Q&A session. (Because God loves us.)
I was dead wrong.
Without batting an eyelash he quipped: “Bakit sila, hindi ba sila mahal ni God?” (Why, doesn't God love them?)
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If only I could, I would have melted right there and then. Yes, in shame. I saw Tatay half-smiling but I know I made him upset that night for my not handling it well with Morning. And I know I disappointed God for somehow disorienting an innocent child’s belief in His fairness and equal love for all of us.
I don’t anymore remember how long it took me to respond to Morning’s last question, but I vividly recall how I stammered on my answer. I remember I told him that God, of course, loves all of us equally but people are poorer than the others because of their own doing and undoing. That they don’t strive, they were lazy in school, which is why they don’t get a job when they are old. (My friends told me that it was a good answer, that is, of course, minus the bumbling.)
But recovering from that boo-boo, I guess, would take my whole lifetime. To this day, I have to be very careful with how I use “God” in my lectures about life to Morning and the kids around me.
And boy was it a humbling experience esp. for a Church person like me, who all these years has been portraying to be someone who completely knows Him.
That night, a child reminded me, I don’t.
***
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”-- Ecclesiastes Chapter 3:11
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