Conversations with Theo: Time Travel, Time Zones and the Vastness of God
This was written a few weeks ago but just found the time to post today.
One of my favorite things about homeschool is that I get to talk with Theo one-on-one... a lot. This week, while driving home from Charlottesville, we discussed time travel, time zones, the vastness of eternity and God and the universe and how God speaks to us.
It all started with Theo asking me if time travel is possible... to which I answered, probably not, but maybe. Flying in an airplane from one time zone to another is kinda like time travel, I said (is this answer as lame as it felt?). Which led into a discussion about the nature of time zones and hemispheres, etc. Somehow we got from there to God and His vastness.
"How big is God?" Theo asked (he asks this intermittently; it is one of his favorite questions).
God is bigger than we could ever imagine, I answered. He is in every living thing, just a bit of him. He would have to be HUGE to be in every living thing.
"How can He be real?"
Another question that comes up often. He used a hushed, awed tone for this one, as he usually does. His little heart and mind quieted by the mystery and majesty that is God.
This question is sometimes followed up by, "How come we can't see God?" This is what I love about talking with Theo - he delves into the layers of a topic, not content to sit at the surface and receive pat answers. He wants to plunge in and discover all there is to know.
I explained how we see shadows, glimmers of God all around us, in creation, in our relationships, and the world we live in. For instance, we see God's fathering/parent heart demonstrated in the love we humans have for our own children. God created us in His image, and our love for our children mirrors His own love for us.
Or we see His creativity in the beauty of the natural world, which is so full of detail and specificity. There are no two shadows on the mountains just the same - each has its own shape and there are so many. The sheer multitude of so many things - grains of sand, stones, clouds, snowflakes - and the singularity of each demonstrates both the infinity of God and His limitless creativity.
"I have been wishing that God would speak to me," Theo said.
"You have?" I asked, surprised.
"Yes. I have been thinking about it a lot."
"I really like God a lot. Do you think," he asked, "that if you really, really love God, it makes it more likely that He will speak to you?"
He went on to explain that when he imagines hearing God speak, it is in a loud, booming voice, like in the Old Testament of the Bible.
I told him that while I have never heard the booming voice of God like a loudspeaker from the heavens, I have had some remarkable experiences in which His presence and reality was too vivid and real to deny.
I have a feeling that as Theo's mom, I will have ample opportunity to dig deeply into these sorts of topics as the years go on. It is an honor and a blessing to get to talk with him about these things. I only pray I can do a good job answering his questions.
One of my favorite things about homeschool is that I get to talk with Theo one-on-one... a lot. This week, while driving home from Charlottesville, we discussed time travel, time zones, the vastness of eternity and God and the universe and how God speaks to us.
It all started with Theo asking me if time travel is possible... to which I answered, probably not, but maybe. Flying in an airplane from one time zone to another is kinda like time travel, I said (is this answer as lame as it felt?). Which led into a discussion about the nature of time zones and hemispheres, etc. Somehow we got from there to God and His vastness.
"How big is God?" Theo asked (he asks this intermittently; it is one of his favorite questions).
God is bigger than we could ever imagine, I answered. He is in every living thing, just a bit of him. He would have to be HUGE to be in every living thing.
"How can He be real?"
Another question that comes up often. He used a hushed, awed tone for this one, as he usually does. His little heart and mind quieted by the mystery and majesty that is God.
This question is sometimes followed up by, "How come we can't see God?" This is what I love about talking with Theo - he delves into the layers of a topic, not content to sit at the surface and receive pat answers. He wants to plunge in and discover all there is to know.
I explained how we see shadows, glimmers of God all around us, in creation, in our relationships, and the world we live in. For instance, we see God's fathering/parent heart demonstrated in the love we humans have for our own children. God created us in His image, and our love for our children mirrors His own love for us.
Or we see His creativity in the beauty of the natural world, which is so full of detail and specificity. There are no two shadows on the mountains just the same - each has its own shape and there are so many. The sheer multitude of so many things - grains of sand, stones, clouds, snowflakes - and the singularity of each demonstrates both the infinity of God and His limitless creativity.
"I have been wishing that God would speak to me," Theo said.
"You have?" I asked, surprised.
"Yes. I have been thinking about it a lot."
"I really like God a lot. Do you think," he asked, "that if you really, really love God, it makes it more likely that He will speak to you?"
He went on to explain that when he imagines hearing God speak, it is in a loud, booming voice, like in the Old Testament of the Bible.
I told him that while I have never heard the booming voice of God like a loudspeaker from the heavens, I have had some remarkable experiences in which His presence and reality was too vivid and real to deny.
I have a feeling that as Theo's mom, I will have ample opportunity to dig deeply into these sorts of topics as the years go on. It is an honor and a blessing to get to talk with him about these things. I only pray I can do a good job answering his questions.
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