Define: God


I read this from Genn’s post and immediately liked it. It is an essay written by an 8-year-old boy named Danny Dutton from Chula Vista, California. I thought the way he described God was honest, pure and simple. Although I am not a religious person, I find his essay very endearing with a touch of humor. I think he didn’t intend the humor part, it’s just him being a kid. That’s what makes this piece so special in my opinion.

Apparently there are rumors circulating that says Danny doesn’t exist and that this is actually written by an adult. Somewhat like a hoax. But I think that’s not important. It is still a nice essay to read nevertheless.

I am sharing this piece solely because I think it is worth a read, please read it with an open mind (no offense intended). Afterall it is just a very honest essay written by a child (or not…) on an interesting topic. Enjoy! :)

A Little Boy’s Explanation of 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 on earth.  He doesn’t make grownups, 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 beside bedtime.  God doesn’t have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this.  Because He hears everything, 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 mom and dad’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 O.K.

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.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time.

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 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.

What is Your Purpose in Life?


The other day, I had an interesting conversation with a wise friend which revolved around the big question: “What is your purpose in life?”

If asked this question a few years ago, I would have quickly related the answer to be somewhat religious. And being a non-religious person, I was under the impression that I could never be able to give a satisfactory answer. True enough, I did not know the answer. I was so eager to give the right answer that my mind went blank thinking of one. I was intimidated by the question.

When faced with the same question once again a few days ago, I gave it a little thought and suddenly had a eureka moment. Right then and there. I came to the realisation that this question has no right answer, it’s really a question of opinion. I said smiling, “I know it’s a little vague, but my purpose in life is to be happy.”

My friend assured me that my answer was not vague at all. In fact she thought it was very specific. We discussed further and I arrived at some interesting conclusions about myself. Now that I know what my purpose in life is, I started to think about ways in which I could live my life, driven by that specific purpose.

We both acknowledged that the state of being happy is highly subjective to every individual, life situation and most importantly – timing. In my opinion, I will truly be happy when I have contentment in life. In order to be contented, I need to pursue all my “wants” to come to the stage where I could finally say “I am happy now.” Of course I cannot deny the complication of not knowing what I want. I might think I want something, but I wouldn’t really know until I got it. Agree?

Instead of pondering on my doubts, I decided to put things in action now. Well because life is short and I am not there yet! At the present moment, I think I will be happy if I can graduate by year 2012 and start living a life that I enjoy. Well, what kind of life would I enjoy? That’s another story for another post :)

For now, I should focus to make this work. When come 2012, I will decide again if I am truly happy or….plan something else. I shall keep doing this until I find contentment in life. This may take me a few years or a lifetime (let’s hope it’s not the latter…). Then, I can be happy.

So tell me, what is your purpose in life…?