theology with a four-year-old, or not.

tonight shaun was at the church so i did bible story time and prayers with eva before bed. i asked her if she would like to pray tonight. here is what transpired:

eva: i can do my "praise to the Lord prayer."

me: um...sure...okay.

eva: dear Lord,
of all my holy praise to the Lord my holy.
help us to bow down to every statue and help us to bow down to all of the statues.
help us to bow down to the statue of oklahoma.
and at the south pole help it to snow and for us to wear jackets that will keep us warm.
amen.

me: oh. okay, um...thanks!

eva runs off to play.

*now i'm thinking we had better discuss the theology of this prayer or her daddy will not be too excited that i didn't take a prime opportunity to discuss what God thinks about bowing down to statues.

me: eva, let's talk about your prayer for a minute. Jesus doesn't want us bowing down to statues or anything else but him. God doesn't like that. He only likes for us to bow down to him.

eva: but Jesus isn't real. he's just pretend. he doesn't have a body.

(this is where the children's catechism comes in handy)

me: Jesus is real! eva, what is God?

eva: God is a spirit and does not have a body like men.

me: who is Jesus?
(after digging we get the answer)
eva: God's son

me: Jesus was born. he was a baby and his mommy was mary. he was a baby like lily. and then he grew up to be a man like daddy. He lived like you and me. what happened to Jesus?

eva: he died on a cross.

me: and what else?

eva: he had a nail in his hand.

me: and then what happened? they put him in the grave and then what?

eva: he came up from the grave.

me: that's right, then he went up to heaven, where he is right now with God.
see eva, Jesus is a real man, with a real body. not like santa clause who is just pretend. santa is just someone we made up for fun, he's not real. but Jesus is REAL.

eva: but pretend santa is real. he's my pretend daddy.

me: ehhhhh. let's go brush your teeth.

*hopefully shaun will be home soon.