EXPLAIN GOD

Written by Danny Dutton, age 8, from Chula Vista, California, for his third grade homework assignment to "EXPLAIN GOD".

"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things here on earth. He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way, He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk, He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.

God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times besides bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV on account of this. Since He hears everything, not only prayers, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off. God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your parent's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.

Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.

Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said OK. His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore, He could stay in heaven. So He did! And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important, of course.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the times. You should always go to Church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong! And, besides, the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.

If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids. But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases.

And that's why I believe in God."

The Switchman

There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river, parallel to its banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times of the day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways along the river, allowing the train to run through it.

A switchman sat in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening, as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the trainlights. He stepped to the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position but to his horror, he found that the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securely in position it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the train to jump track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard.

He left the bridge, turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever firmly back as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism firmly locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength.

Then coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. "Daddy, where are you?"

His 4 year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close and his tiny legs would never make it across the river in time.

The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realised that he could not get back to the lever. Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took a moment to make his decision. The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the onrushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked to tell his wife how their son had brutally died.

Now if you can comprehend the emotions which were in this man's heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of our Father in heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the sky to darken when His Son died? How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ?

THE SUNDAY GOLFER

The Rev. Francis Norton woke up Sunday morning and, realizing it was an exceptionally beautiful and sunny early spring day, decided he just had to play golf. So, he told the associate pastor that he was feeling sick and persuaded him to say Mass for him that day.

As soon as the associate pastor left the room, Father Norton headed out of town to a golf course about 40 miles away. This way, he knew he wouldn't accidentally meet anyone he knew from his parish.

Setting up on the first tee, he was alone. After all, it was Sunday morning and everyone else was in church! At about this time, St. Peter leaned over to the Lord while looking down from the heavens and exclaimed, "You're not going to let him get away with this are you?" The Lord sighed, and said, "No, I guess not." Just then, Father Norton hit the ball and it shot straight toward the pin, dropped just short of it, rolled up, and fell into the hole. It was a 420-yard hole-in-one!

St. Peter was astonished. He looked at the Lord and asked. "Why did you let him do that?" The Lord smiled and replied, "Who's he going to tell?"

A Parable of Heaven and Hell

by Lionel Blue and June Rose

There was a rabbi who wanted to see both heaven and hell. And God gave way to his pleading.

The rabbi found himself before a door that bore no name. He trembled as he saw it open before him into a room where all was prepared for a feast. There was a table, and at it's center a great dish of steaming food. The smell and aroma inflamed the appetite.

Diners sat around the table with great spoons in their hands, yet they were shrieking with hunger in that terrible place. They tried to feed themselves, and gave up, cursing God. For the spoons God had provided were so long that they could not reach their faces and get the food to their tongues. So they starved because of these spoons, while the dish of plenty lay amongst them. The rabbi knew their shriekings were the cries of hell, and as knowledge came, the door closed before him.

He shut his eyes in prayer, and begged God to take him away from that terrible place. When he opened them again, he despaired, for the same door stood before him, the door that bore no name. Again it opened, and it gave onto the same room. Nothing had changed and he was about to cry out in horror. There was the table, and at it's center the steaming bowl, and around it were the same people, and in their hands the same spoons.

Yet the shrieking had gone and the cries and curses had turned to blessings. And nothing had changed, yet everything. For with the same long spoons they reached to each other's faces, and fed each other's mouths. And they gave thanks to God.

And as the rabbi heard the blessings, the door closed. He bent down, and he too blessed God, who had shown him the nature of heaven and hell, and the chasm - a hairsbreadth wide - that divides them.