Emma's Questions

This was taken by me in the rear view mirror on the way to drop my daughter Emma off at her first school dance. I love the ethereal feel of the clouds and sky. It reminds me of a couple of different moments with my very smart, amazing little girl. The first is when she was five years old and we were on the way to her first day of Kindergarten. She had never been to pre-school, so this was a very big day. She spotted a rainbow and said excitedly, "Mommy, mommy! A rainbow! God put it there just for me for my first day of school!" (I think this is kind of like the time she was three and we were walking in the mall and she suddenly announced, "Mom, that little boy is looking at me because he thinks I'm beeeeautiful...") 

It was pretty cute to hear a little five year old make such a statement about a rainbow (I distinctly remember getting a bit teary), but that same mentality in an adult...not so cute. A person's understanding of their place in the world and how life works should progress past that point as they mature....unfortunately somehow some people still seem to think that God was responsible for their Grammy award or for their win in the last football game. They think that God felt it was reasonable to honor their prayer request to "hold off the rain" for a church picnic or a day at Adventure Island even though the struggling farmer next door desperately needs the rain for his crops. If a supernatural power was responsible for holding off the rain, maybe it was Satan and not God after all....? 

Fast forward 7 years...The second in-car conversation with my daughter that this photo reminds me of was just a couple of months ago. She began to tell me that she had been thinking...about all the religions and beliefs in the world...and how much the followers of those religions believed in them....and she asked me, "Why do Christians think they are the only ones who are right when others believe just as strongly that they are right?" At one time this questions would have struck paralyzing fear into my heart for a split second before I gave her the "right answer". Instead, I said...

"Emma, that's a really, really good question."