A Child's View Of God

A CHILD'S VIEW OF GOD

Many of you know that I did not grow up in the church. My family was not religious, and so, we seldom spoke of God. Still in all, even as a child, I had some conception of God. I don’t know where I got it or how I picked it up, but I had an undeveloped, primitive theology. I mean even as young as five or six.

I remember playing at the window of our second story apartment, overlooking the street in front of our building. I had a small plastic figure -- a toy soldier, perhaps, or maybe a cowboy, I don’t remember. But this I do remember. I positioned the tiny replica of a man on top of the lower sash near the lock just over my head. "Now, you be god," I said, and I imagined this being -- human in appearance -- situated above me. That was my notion of God: "the man upstairs" model of the deity, I guess you might say. I really knew nothing about God. I just thought I did.