Lulu, aged 6, came home from school and wrote a letter to God:
To God how did you get invented? From Lulu xo
Lulu’s parents considered themselves atheists. But, respecting their daughter’s serious enquiry, they eventually decided to send it to Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He ought to know. This is the letter that came:
Dear Lulu, Your dad has sent on your letter and asked if I have any answers. It's a difficult one! But I think God might reply a bit like this –
'Dear Lulu – Nobody invented me – but lots of people discovered me and were quite surprised. They discovered me when they looked round at the world and thought it was really beautiful or really mysterious and wondered where it came from. They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own and felt a sort of peace and love they hadn't expected. Then they invented ideas about me – some of them sensible and some of them not very sensible. From time to time I sent them some hints – specially in the life of Jesus – to help them get closer to what I'm really like. But there was nothing and nobody around before me to invent me. Rather like somebody who writes a story in a book, I started making up the story of the world and eventually invented human beings like you who could ask me awkward questions!'
And then he'd send you lots of love and sign off. I know he doesn't usually write letters, so I have to do the best I can on his behalf. Lots of love from me too. +Archbishop Rowan
“They discovered me when they were very very quiet on their own…” In this loud, clamorous culture of instant communication, TV, cellphones, texting, emails, iPads, iPods and things I haven’t heard of yet, and all the peer pressures to live that way and have those things, Lulu could do with a meditative discipline to be very very quiet on her own.
Christian Meditation people are these days introducing meditation to young children, who turn out to be sometimes better at it than their teachers. In a culture in which so many people get so very restless and nervous about silence and stillness, terrified of boredom and being left not knowing what to do, it is scarcely amazing that they lose any concept of God also. So we make friends again with silence and stillness, and learn to welcome mystery and wonder, and be quite surprised.
No comments:
Post a Comment