Below you’ll find a short story I wrote for my four-year-old son Jack as he began to hear about God and religion in his pre-school class. As he took his first steps on the lifetime journey of trying to understand how the world and faith collide, my hope was (and still is) to instill in our children that God loves us for who we are and will always love us whoever we turn out to be.
Jack jumped out of bed, with a scream
“Daddy, daddy can I have ice cream?”
Dad looked down and smiled at his son
“Sorry big guy, but we have none.”
Jack jumped the stairs to start his day.
He wondered what he’ll do today.
Will he explore the forest behind his house?
Will he run outside chasing a mouse?
Will he fly through the air like a hero?
Will he say “Ready or not” after counting down to zero?
The possibilities were endless, the opportunities countless,
But there was one idea that held Jack boundless.
Jack was growing old you see (he had just turned four),
And he was devoting his life to learning more.
He learned his letters, his numbers, and his shapes,
But what he loved the most were the stars in space.
Where did they come from? How did they get there?
Why do they hang by themselves in the air?
Did a mighty giant draw the sky?
Did an eagle teach the stars to fly?
Did a dinosaur use his ancient long neck?
Did a dragon spit fire to create a light set?
When did this happen? He needed to know.
And when he had a question, there was one place to go.
He ran outside, the night stars shone bright
He grabbed a leg and held on tight.
He looked up and found his face, “Dad, dad I have a new case.”
Jack pointed to the stars, and began his interrogation.
“How, when and where did the stars reach their destination?
“Was it a train that flew as fast as a comet?
Were the stars launched on top of a rocket?
Were they balls of fire from alien civilizations?
Were they fireflies trapped in outer space stations?”
His dad looked down and smiled at his son
Then he stopped for a moment, to ponder this one.
He bent down low so his eyes were close to his
And said to Jack “This one is quite the quiz.”
“I do not know all the answers here,
And for this one you’ll need to find your own pier.
But I’ll tell you how I think the stars arrived,
Follow my words son, and you’ll soon be surprised.”
“You see, a long, long time ago,
Before the grass between our toes,
Before the plants, flowers, and the trees,
Before the animals, the bugs, and the bees,
Before the fish, whales, and the seas,
Before You, me and even grandpappy.”
“Before the earth, before the moon
Before the stars, before the dunes
Before all there was and all there would be
There was a single being, quite a mystery.
His name was God, and he was all alone
Surrounded by darkness because no sun shown.”
“But God did not wallow in his sadness;
God did not become angry in his madness.
You see God was a builder, a creator, a designer
He had big plans, this diviner.
He sat down and started to draw,
He sketched, He colored and He mapped out all.
He scribbled and He scratched piece by piece,
Until He had His masterpiece.
With His design finished, His plans complete
There was only one thing left to cure His grief.”
“God snapped His fingers and set in motion
The “Big Bang” that caused much commotion.
The darkness receded, the light arose
He brought to life the very first rose.”
“The stars whizzed past the planets in space
And this is how the universe took shape.
He filled the space with galaxies galore,
Oh son, but there is so much more!”
“God loves you, He loves me,
His greatest wish is for you to be happy.
You see, all of us, both you and me
Even every person across the sea
No matter their color, their age, their gender,
We all live within His splendor.
No matter who they love or what they believe
We are all part of God’s family.”
“So chase your dreams, discover and create,
Because God’s greatest wish is for you to be great.
But whenever you jump a little too far,
Or trip and fall and pick up a scar,
Look up to the stars, and remember this:
God gave us the stars as a gift.”
“Never forget I love you, and God loves us,
Now go on son and make a big wish!”
