Spooky and me

When I was a little boy, about the age when one would start wondering about the logistics of God, I remember sitting on the porch with my puppy Spooky. I also remember that very same day, asking my mom where exactly God was. Maybe for lack of a little boy answer, or maybe merciful foresight, she told me simply, that “God is everywhere.”

My mom's God at the time, WAS everywhere. He was watching everything she did. That’s what her mom told her... but she added, to account for sins. Sins? Give me a break. So by some real miracle, MY mom neglected to tell me that part of the story. And that has made all the difference.

But this post is about perspectives, including those of and from little boys. A backdrop to illustrate; in the midsts of recent events, I temporarily lost my perspective. I’m told I’m prone to agonizing and I was living up to my reputation - I had to sit down at times...

I was sitting in a parking lot when my cell phone rang. It was my 12 year-old nephew. He wanted to know what Natural Selection was. I regained my composure enough to tell him how evolution works. It was a wonderful conversation and he was with me word for word.

“Kyle, it’s very important that you REALLY understand how evolution works. It is a unique, and honest way of seeing the world – a gift you will carry around for the rest of your life. In every tree, every frog, every paramecium, and especially, in every human being, you will see beauty that many people miss – an intrinsic beauty, clear and real, from a place high above the words and myths of men. If there is a "God", she speaks through natural selection and you can see it....everywhere"

That's when it hit me. My mom was right, "God" really is everywhere, Spooky and I were best friends for 14 years, broken hearts hurt, I agonize, life is beautiful, perspective just hits you, and somehow I have yet to figure out, all of this is connected.