August 9 – “Origins”

We received an unusual phone call the other day.  Actually it was a FaceTime call from our four year old grandson, Josiah.  Seems he had a pressing question about origins.  That’s right.  The youngster is already philosophizing about where things come from.  And this was no trivial little preschoolish pondering about why cake is puffy and brownies are flat and pancakes are even flatter (Although I have often wondered that myself).  Not, not for Josiah.  He advanced right to the serious questions, perhaps a function of living in a house where only one out of eight residents (that figure, of course, includes Lucy the Indoor Dog and Snowflake the Outdoor Cat) is younger than he is.  Well, OK, maybe the cat is younger, but cats are … well … cats, after all. 

And what, pray tell, is this demanding dilemma, this persistent predicament that inspired young Josiah to seek out the wisdom of the elders, the wise ones, the grandparents?  Here’s a summary of the conversation as I remember it:

Josiah: “Is Darth Vader from a Galaxy far, far away?”
Nana: “Well, …”
Josiah: “Like, is from Texas?”
Nana: “I think it might be farther away than Texas.”
Josiah: “Like maybe the North Pole?”
Nana: “It could be from that far.”
Josiah: “Is it the South Pole?”
Nana: “The South Pole is pretty far away.”
DadDad (from the next couch over): “Tell him he’s from all the way past the moon.”
Nana: “DadDad says he’s from way past the moon.”
Josiah (obviously in awe of such deep-sage wisdom): “Whoa.  All the way past the moon?  That’s a long way.”

Well, there you have it.  Should any other question-of-origin type questions arise, you know where to find us. 

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Father, that’s the origin that really matters.  From you …  Amen.