http://www.godandscience.org/

The other day I was talking to one of my friends and she told me how one of her little ones was really struggling with the idea of the trinity (One God expressed as three persons).  This idea initially excited me.  I thought it was the perfect idea for my next book.  After all, one of my goals is to show children how the Bible has answers to all their life questions backed up with Bible verses.  However, as I began to research different ways to teach the Trinity (i.e., it’s like an apple, shamrock; it’s like water, ice, and steam), I found they all lacked something.

As I research how to teach the doctrine of the Trinity, I began to feel that there was a much bigger truth we need to convey to our children.  One of my favorite scriptures is “my thought are not your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8).    This truth is very clear as we humans try to convey the Trinity.

As an adult, most of us have accepted the fact that some part of God is beyond comprehension.  However, when it comes to our children, we often struggle to allow them to come to the same conclusion.  So in the end, I did not write a book to help my friends little person understand the Trinity.  However, I did encourage her to have a conversation that goes something like this:

Friend:  I have been thinking about your questions the Trinity.  You know what? I realized I don’t fully understand it myself.  I think that is because God wants to remind us how amazing, mysterious and awesome He is.  If we understood everything about God we wouldn’t need faith.

Little one will likely respond in one of the following ways: “you mean you don’t fully understand God;” or “o.k. can I have snack now?”

For the first response, don’t get nervous or feel the need to explain further  but with a smile on your face respond, “nope God is much bigger than me, isn’t that great?”  If they respond they respond in the last way, feel free to give them a snack at your discretion.

What other things do you think we need to grant ourselves permission not to explain?