Skip to main content

Jesus in florida (who is teaching who here?)


sometimes your children are so cute that you can't quite keep it to yourself.  hence this blog post.

caedmon is my accessory boy.  it is not unusual for him to be walking around the house in shorts, 3 shirts (one shirt is definitely not enough), a necktie, sunglasses, a hat, silly bands, sweat bands, different socks, shoes, and a necklace or two.  and then two minutes later it will be a whole 'nother ensemble. 

he's going to preschool now, and he's been learning a prayer for before meals.  but he hasn't quite perfected it yet, so it has been prayed in a variety of forms this week: 

"God is great and God is food,"  as well as the more theologically accurate, "God is great and God is good and Jesus loves me so." 

but just when you think he's got a beginner's grasp on Christology, we have this exchange:
me:  where does Jesus live, Cade?
cade:  in his house.  in outer space.  and around us.  he flies here.  (then, whispering...) he also lives inside my body. 

and then yesterday i asked him again about the whereabouts of Jesus, just to see if he stuck to his story.  not so much.  this time he told me that Jesus lives in heaven.  i asked him where heaven was and he said, "florida."  florida?!?  really?  well, what does Jesus do in florida?  "he rides the waves.  and goes to the grocery store.  to buy snacks for scooby dooby doo."  ahhh, yes.  in the end, all things come back to those meddling kids and their lovable canine. 

and just when i think i've got a bunch to teach him about God, he shuffles out of his bed, first thing in the morning, still barely aware of his surroundings, walks over to me where i am reclined on the couch reading the news.  it's still dark outside.  without asking if it is ok, or pausing to think about it, he somewhat awkwardly climbs up on me and puts his head on my chest, his morning breath a steady assault on my nose.  and without looking up or moving at all he whispers in a barely audible way: "i love you daddy.  sooooo much.  i love you daddy.  soooooo much.  i love you daddy.  soooooo much." 

and i realize that he is teaching me.  even though i may be better at saying grace, and i may have a full arsenal of theological answers, he has so much to teach me about God.  so i squeeze him tightly against my bare chest, his mismatched pajamas and sweatbands, along with his simple 3-year old faith and God-awful morning breath, become nearly invisible and undetectable in the glare of the pure and perfect love whispering out of him.  i cling to his warm and sleepy body like it's the last hug i'll ever have. 

and i say a prayer that i just learned:   i love you daddy.  soooo much.

Comments

Unknown said…
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing that.
NJ Grandma said…
Sweet three year old :)
monica said…
i think you could do a whole eucharistic sermon on God is great and God is food. He is.
Emoly said…
Bill has always said that Florida is just God's waiting room... maybe he and Cade are onto something...

Popular posts from this blog

bad haircuts (for a laugh)

everybody needs to laugh.  one good way i have found to make that happen is to do a simple google image search for 'bad haircut.'  when you do so, some of the following gems show up.  thankfully, my 9th grade school picture does NOT show up.  otherwise, it would certianly make this list!  please laugh freely and without inhibition.  thank you and have a nice day. 

happiness is dry underwear

we started potty training jack on thursday. we followed a program called POTTY TRAIN IN ONE DAY, which, by the way, i think is kind of crazy. i mean, if someone were to offer you a book called, "ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE IN ONE DAY" i don't think you would take it seriously. and yet here we are, trying to accomplish an equally daunting task in one 24-hour period. it is intense. the day is shrouded in a lie because as soon as your happily diapered child wakes up you tell him that it is a big party. we had balloons and streamers and noisemakers and silly string - all the trappings of a legitimate party. but it is most certainly not a party. it is a hellishly exhausting day. as soon as jack got out of bed, we gave him a present: an anatomically correct doll that wets himself. jack named him quincy. several times quincy successfully peed in the potty and even had an accident or two in his "big boy underwear." he also dropped a deuce that looked and smelled sus

the crucifixion of Robert Lewis

  "the crucifixion of Robert Lewis" mixed media collage with leaves, acrylic paint, and found objects by gregory a milinovich october 2023 this october i was invited to participate in a three day trip which was called a "pilgrimage of pain and hope."  while that may not sound super exciting to many of you, it actually really intrigued me.  i am the kind of person that wants to feel big feelings, and i am drawn to the deep places, so  i was interested in traveling to the scranton area, where the trip was planned, to see what it might look like to be a pilgrim that was wide-eyed and listening to the pain and the hope in the stories of others.   this trip included hearing the stories of immigrants to the northeastern pennsylvania area, and the work in the coal mines that many of them did.  it included hearing from folks who are working for housing justice and equity in downtown scranton.  it included hearing from those indigenous people who first inhabited that land.