God and the Velveteen Rabbit

The other day as we were walking to the park Emily asked me, “Will God become real one day, like the Velveteen Rabbit?” So interesting to watch them work through spirituality, magic, story and reality. I don’t mind at all if they blend a bit for now. In fact I think those things blending a bit more wouldn’t hurt any of us.

Sometimes they’ll ask me if something’s really real. I’m always reluctant to give them a direct answer. On a wooded path at the Lake Kalyee asked me once if fairies were real. “Well, I’ve never actually seen one,” I admitted. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t look for them. I think this is a good fairy path. Don’t you?”

I know many would accuse me of confusing my children. How can they learn to distinguish between inalienable truth of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, if we mix in magic and myth? They won’t be able to discern truth from fantasy. It will undermine their faith, their relationship with God, why, the very salvation of their souls!

Yet my instincts tell me the opposite is true. Creating a capacity for belief, imagination and comprehending a reality beyond what our five senses can perceive is not a simple thing. I think it’s innate to each of us, but complex too. Not only is God real, but there is room in His Kingdom for magic and mystery. And in fact, we don’t know everything. I think it’s possible that if we look for fairies along paths in the forest we might just find them.