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God and Snow


Some of Asher and my most profound conversations occur in the car on the way to and from preschool.
Yesterday we went past an old church just a few blocks past preschool. We pass it every day, but this day Asher seemed to notice the building for the first time.
"What is that building?" Asher asked.
"It is a church!" I said, testing his knowledge of such things.
"What is a church?" he wanted to know.
"Do they teach you about churches at school?" I asked, now wondering if I was going to be the first person to explain organized religion to Asher.
I took a deep breath and said "Well, it is a place where people pray...." knowing that I would not get to stop there.
"What does pray mean?" (Of course, the next logical question)
Now I really wanted to be responsible. I wanted to explain this in a way that didn't involve my opinion. I wanted to explain it in a way where Asher could make his OWN conclusions. But this was difficult.
"Um, well some people pray to God." I was grasping.
"What is God?" Asher asked. Now we were really getting to the point.
"Well," I began, "Sometimes people believe that God is what makes everything. And what makes everything okay."
Silence.
And then finally, "Mom? I don't understand."
"What do you think makes the snow fall, or flowers grow?" I asked, suddenly feeling very philosophical. "Some people think that it is God. Something responsible for life and death and everything in the world."
"Oh, said Asher, now getting very excited, "So if you see a flower, you say, "Look at that God!" or if the snow is falling you say, "It is God-ding out there!"

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