The Moment
"Mom, do you think God is a boy or a girl?"
I was sitting at the dinning room table eating something when Gabriel asked me this question. I took a swig of tea, trying to swallow what was in my mouth. This was another moment that I love as a parent, but I had a lot of thoughts to put in order.
Some background: we are Jewish, and I officially converted before Gabriel was born, but I was raised agnostic. Wait, it gets better. Judaism and agnosticism work well together, but for raising a seven year old spiritually in a specific religion, it can be a hurdle. I want him to think for himself, so I approach these issues with a kind of open-ended-guided-thing that can be a real dance for me mentally.
So for this question, the first thing I did was throw out my baggage and really analyze Gabriel's question.
I started by throwing the question back at him, "That's a good question." I looked him straight in the eye. "What do you think, Gabriel?"
He looked up at the ceiling, thinking, and swayed against the dining room table on tiptoe, "I think he's a boy."
That makes sense: you are a boy, I thought. All the stories you read use the word "he" when talking about God.
He looked back at me, "So, Mom, what do you think?"
I felt free to give my opinion. "I think God is whatever it needs to be. Maybe it's both genders. Maybe there is a totally different gender possibility. Or maybe it's no gender at all."
He took it in, "Mom, can I play Wii now?"
"Sure." I went back to eating my food. So much for The Moment.
--Mom
