Deep Thoughts With Finley

She was swinging in the hammock when this popped out of her mouth:
"Mom, how do people know God is real and not just something that somebody made up?"

I heard the question from my almost-10-year-old daughter, and for a minute, thought my brain might explode.

I don't recall ever beginning to think that question when I was her age.

After I recovered from that jolt in time (Did you feel it on Saturday morning?), I fumbled out something about the origins of the universe (Forget the debate over evolution. Where did this energy and matter come from?) and the mystery of life itself.

And then I said something like this, "Say you have a friend at school who has never met me. How does she know I'm real? You talk about me all the time, but maybe you are just making things up about me. Maybe you just want a mom so badly that you tell stories about having one so that people think you do."

Boom. The look on her face was priceless. It said something like, "Have you lost your mind?" Well, yes, Finley, I have. Many times. And then I find it again, try to make sure the synapses are working sufficiently, and move on in life until I lose it again.

"See, you know I'm real because you know me. You have a relationship with me. I talk to you and have done things for you that tell you I love you." I went on to say that because of her experience with me, if I made her breakfast in the morning and left it on the table for her, she would know I made it for her when she got up even if I wasn't right there with her at the moment. I started to tell her about some of the times God showed me that he was real, and how he talks to me sometimes... when Joe and Zivah walked outside.

"Is he talking to you right now?!" Joe asked, getting right up in my face, looking for any sign that I was hearing something he wasn't.

"No," I said. And from there the conversation with the kids died out.
The one in my head, however...

You see, I am a doubting Thomas. I am one of those that need to see and feel the scars. In spite of the conviction of my youth, I am not sure that I would believe in the God that I do if it weren't for the experiences that I've had.

It is interesting. People talk about faith. They quote Hebrews 11:1. "Faith is the assurance of things hope for..." A trust that things you don't have proof for are or will be. Some would say that this implies that faith is a blind belief. But this really isn't the case, is it? Faith is based on relationship.

When I was young. I was surrounded by sincere people. My parents made it a point not to lie to me. They never pretended that Santa was real. If these were people whom I trusted, why should I doubt God or the Chritianity they believed in? And so in this faith I grew and then experienced for myself.

But my faith doesn't silence all the questions I have:

What if God had never proven himself to me? Why should I have continued to believe?

What about people of other faiths? Do they experience God? If they are having legitimate experiences, what does that mean for my Christian faith?

Do some people never have spiritual experiences, or is it that they just don't recognize them?
If some people don't, why?

And on and on it goes, this conversation in my head...