Got to admit . . . the kid was thinking.
My wife shared a story about a friend’s grandson. Her friend explained that her grandson attends a Catholic preschool. When the boy got in the car he was greeted by his mother’s usual questions-and-answers talk.
“What did you learn in school today?” quizzed the mother. The child proceeded to tell his mother all about the day’s lesson on Jesus. When he got to the end, he said, “And the teacher said she had Jesus in her heart.”
Then there was a moment of silence before the boy—wide-eyed—asked, “Mom, what is Jesus doing in her heart?”
We adults probably do not take the time to filter our responses when speaking to the preschool generation . . . especially when it comes to theological and religious topics. We forget how literal and concrete five-year-olds can be in their thinking. Jesus in her heart . . . seems a little crowded to a five-year-old and quite logical to want to know what he is doing in there. Probably no wonder little children are apprehensive about things like theology and religion . . . why so much of it does not make sense to their little minds and common sense.
If I was a five-year-old I sure the heck would want to know how some adult, let alone Jesus, got into someone’s heart. I’d like to know what he was doing there. Granted, five-year-olds are more knowledgeable and sophisticated than previous generations thanks to television, movies, and videos on You Tube. Jesus probably found some shrinking ray machine, shrank, and climbed down the teacher’s throat while she was sleeping into her heart, and set-up camp. Still . . . why?
Think about it . . . think about it like a five-year-old.
Try this snappy pronouncement that gets thrown around by the adult faithful: Jesus is the answer. Answer to what? That is what every preschooler who hears that phrase wants to know—answer to what? The quick answer is—everything. Jesus is the answer. This could be dangerous in the hands of a five-year-old.
Parents ask questions and expect answers. “Junior, who hit your sister?” Jesus.
Teachers expect answers to their questions. “Amelia, what is four plus four?” Jesus.
Who can blame a kid? If Jesus is the answer . . . then Jesus is the answer to all questions. It is that simple. That is what they are told.
One little boy went into the store, grabbed a candy bar, and started eating it. Shocked, the kid’s mother asked what he was doing . . . “Eating a candy bar.”
“Who paid for the candy bar?” demanded the mother.
“Jesus!”
What?
“Jesus paid for it all!”
The faithful have said that . . . Jesus paid for it all. Of course, as a faithful adult, we understand that to mean that Jesus—through his life. Death, and resurrection—paid for the sins of their lives. Grace. To a five-year-old it simply means that Jesus has an unlimited line of credit to pay for anything . . . even a candy bar. That’s what the children are told. Jesus paid for it all. You name it, Jesus paid. I wonder how those I pay my bills to would handle it if I stuck a note in the payment envelope declaring, “Jesus paid it all.”
Jesus saves. Probably why he can pay for it all. As a five-year-old I’d want to know what he saves. Does he save rocks? Baseball cards? Comic books? Money? Butterflies? Convenient store bags? There is a joke about Satan and Jesus arguing about who had the best computer skills. they had been arguing for days, and God was getting tired of it. To settle the argument God would test them and their skills. The test would run for two hours and at the end God would declare a winner.
God set up two computers. Jesus and Satan sat at their respective computers. Then it began . . . the two of them did everything imaginable with a computer. Spreadsheets. Reports. Faxes. Emails. Attachments. PowerPoints. They downloaded and uploaded. Anything and everything a computer could do, they did it.
Then, ten minutes before the contest was over, lightning flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and of course, the electricity went off. The computers crashed . . . they were off.
Satan stared at the blank screen and screamed every curse word imaginable. Jesus just sighed. Finally, the electricity flickered on. They restarted their computers.
Satan searched frantically, screaming, “It’s gone! It’s all gone! Everything lost when the power went off!”
Jesus quietly started printing everything he had done in the last two hours. This made Satan mad.
“Wait! He cheated; how did he do that?”
God shrugged and said, “Jesus saves.”
What does Jesus save? Inquiring five-year-olds want to know.
What about, “Jesus is with me” and “Jesus shows the way”? Kind of creepy if you are a five-year-old in this day and age of “stranger danger”. True, children do have active imaginations, but what parent doesn’t get a little concern when their kids start having imaginary friends/companions? Think about it.
Parent to child: “Who you talking to?”
“Jesus.” Right! Because he is the answer to all questions.
“Jesus?”
“Yeah . . . Jesus. He’s with me.”
“Really, Jesus?”
“Yup. He’s in my heart.”
“What’s he doing in your heart?”
“Well, he shows me the way. Besides, he is paying for it all.”
Makes sense to me, but I am often accused ot acting like a five-year-old. Some of the best and deepest theological conversations I have ever had were with children. They see the world . . . and Jesus . . . differently than we adults. They take it to heart and mind what we tell them—literally and concretely. They keep it simple.
Jesus is in my heart—a little crowded, but there is room for one more person or thing that is loved.
Jesus is the answer—it works for all questions. Give it a try. It might not make sense, but it sure saves a lot of brain power. Besides, who is going to disagree? Come on, we’re talking Jesus here. He is the answer.
Jesus paid it all—this is tougher to embrace, but wouldn’t it be great? No care, no worries. Like reaching into one’s pocket and always having enough money. Jesus is the bank.
Jesus saves—that is why he can pay for it all. That or he is some sort of IT savant. Either way, he saves because I (or we) can’t. Someone has to pay the bills.
Jesus is with me . . Jesus is the way. Sure, I talk to myself. Jesus is a good listener. Jesus is a good way to pass this strange habit off of . . . I’m talking to Jesus. Since he is the answer to all questions, why not this one too? Jesus is showing me the way. Not sure what the way is, but he’s got the directions. I’m just tagging along for the ride.
I like it. I like how a preschooler thinks. Simple. literal. Concrete. In my older age I have been accused of regressing . . . of going back to a second childhood. That may be true, but if you really listen to children when they talk about God and Jesus . . . well, we adults get a good laugh, but they make a lot of sense. So, I smile, chuckle, and glean the wisdom. Wisdom from a five-year-old.
When I ask children about God . . . about Jesus . . . about who or what they are, I’m always given a one-word answer. No, not Jesus! Love. Love that comes in a bear hug . . . a sloppy kiss on the cheek . . . and holding hands. Love that comes in shared laughter . . . shed tears . . . and acting goofy. Love comes in the acknowledgement and excitement of one another’s presence. If five-year-olds can get it, then so can I.
We ought to stop and listen to the children. They may not understand, but they know. Oh, do they know. It’s that simple.
