Jeffrey and I have started engaging in conversations that I find very rewarding.
He asks questions and I try to answer them to the best of my ability and that is the equation in our conversations.
I have come to the realization that it is lot easier to face questions from an adult.
My 5 year old has fundamental questions that I have taken for granted. Maybe I had the same questions when I was a kid.
When did we stop being curious? Curious about everything ! Anything ???
Sometimes i think humans regress as a race when we grow up. We are better off as kids.
The pace at which the kids learn new topics is mind-blowing.
Jeffrey has immersed himself into the world of super-heroes and my youngest brother is his mentor on the subject. It is a sight to behold to see both of them talk on that subject.
His sense of morality is distilled from the world of super-heroes & not our religious text.
I personally find the virtues of super-heroes more relatable than those i find in book of faith.
But to give him broader perspective, my wife bought him a book on bible stories. He liked those stories too.
Now I am wondering & waiting how he will process these two distinct worlds to make his own assertions. He has started to do that already.
I am registering one such conversation i had with my son this morning, for posterity.😊
Normally, I spend time with him just before he goes to sleep. Nothing fancy, just boys stuff. 😊
Last night when i came back from office , Jeffrey was already asleep. I missed that precious time with my son.
When I woke up today and saw him, he was wide-eyed, ready & waiting to strike a conversation.
Without any small talk, he went straight in.
Jeffrey : "Ultron, can you fly underwater?"
Me : "Yes, I can . I will rule the oceans"
Jeffrey : "Aquaman is the king of Ocean"
Jeffrey : "Ultron, why are you bad?"
Jeffrey : "Why don't you save grid ? He is trapped by Cyborg"
For the uninitiated, Ultron is the Super villain robot in Avengers [ Marvel Cinematic universe ] .
Grid is a similar super villain robot in DC universe where Cyborg is one of DC's super heroes.
And we do role plays by imitating super heroes & villains.
Lets stop here and continue with the conversation.
With my best imitation of Ultron's voice..
Me : "Yes , I have plans to save Grid and together we will destroy humans."
Jeffrey : "Why do you want to destroy humans?"
Me : "Because humans are bad. They destroy trees and use plastic."
Jeffrey : "God created humans. Everything god created is beautiful."
Me : "Okay. Then I will rule all people on earth"
Jeffrey : "Jesus is the king of earth."
Me : "Then, what should i do?"
Jeffrey : "Collect some money. Go and work in the fields"
Me : "I am the most sophisticated machine that man has ever built and I am a super villian!. You expect me to work in the fields?"
Jeffrey : "Yes" ( definitive answer)
When i thought we reached logical end to our short conversation , after a long pause, he asked the toughest question of all.
Jeffrey : "When was god born?"
It didn't seem that tough to me..I got this ! I started right away..
Me : "Jesus was born approximately 2000 years ago. We don't know the exact year or date though".
He gave me a weird look..
Jeffrey : "I said 'GOD' not 'JESUS'".
Now, it was my time to take a long pause.
Me : "GOD has always existed from the beginning of times"
By the look of him , I realized he was not impressed with my answer. Even i wasn't buying it. So....
Me : "I don't know when God was born. We will find it out together."
I could see he was satisfied with this answer and like that, Jeffrey & I started this journey to find answers.
I don't really know if we will find answers but I am enjoying travelling this road with my son. 😊
