We are in the car on Monday morning driving to preschool, and Isabelle, gazing out the window at the sun rising over the frozen expanse of Lake Michigan informs me that the sun is shaped like a circle. When she asks why (a question that is raised .... oh, several thousand times a day), I reply with something along the lines of, "Well, that is the shape suns come in," all the while thinking my brother could probably give her the scientific reason as to why suns and planets and moons, for that matter, are all shaped like orbs.
I am still pondering this and half listening to the radio and juggling several other nonsensical thoughts in my head, while semi-listening to Isabelle in the back seat when she hits me with, "Can planes fly to heaven?"
"No, baby, heaven is way up in the sky and planes cannot fly that high." (Me thinking where is this coming from?)
"How about a spaceship?"
"Nope, not even a spaceship can reach heaven."
"But I miss Great Grandma, and I want to see her, and how do we visit her in heaven?"
Picture me in the driver's seat, giant lump having instantly formed in my throat, still trying to drive the car. Did she really just say that?! "I know, sweetie, I miss her too (my voice breaking as the tears come), but we cannot visit heaven until its our time and God invites us. She knows you love her and miss her and God is taking good care of her."
"Yeah, she got old."
"That's right."
"But I miss her."
"I know. I do too."
"But Great Grandma is with God, and Joseph and Mary and Baby Jesus and she is taking care of them."
"Well, Isabelle, I like to think everyone in heaven takes care of each other, so, yeah."
"Momma, the spaceship car will be landing at preschool shortly, okay?"
"Okay, Isabelle." I wipe the tears off my cheeks with a shaky hand and am shocked to discover I am still driving and more then halfway to my destination. Kids never cease to amaze me with what their minds process and what they say. She, of course, had no idea the power or the effect her little inquiry had over me, but I like to think that if my Grandmother was listening in from up in heaven she had to have been smiling. And I could not help but smile too as I watched Isabelle run into her classroom minutes later, clutching (you guessed it) her new toy airplane for show-and-tell, wondering whether or not she would inform her classmates that planes could not fly to heaven.
1 comment:
Since I was referenced, I couldn't resist.
As the mass of a forming planet or sun increases so does the gravitational pull. When the gravitational strength surpasses the strength of the material the planet or sun is made of, it deforms the material. Since gravity pulls uniformly from the center in all directions, the end result is a sphere. Smaller space objects (asteroids) do not have enough mass and therefore gravitational strength to result in a spherical shape.
Post a Comment