I was in Las Vegas with my wife and a few family members, all of whom are practicing Catholics. We met up with another portion of family members on my wife's side that happened to be there the same weekend.
While folks greeted and conversed, we slowly migrated over to a random food court and occupied many of the tables there. Sitting in front of me was a promising 12-year old girl who was quickly becoming bored. I was also growing restless because the impromptu family gathering was an unanticipated dead space in the midst of our sinful gambling-drinking-eating party train, for which Las Vegas is intended.
As I was talking to the 12-year old about things mundane, she suddenly interrupted me and changed the subject by asking if it was really true that starlight from distant stars represented the past. Seriously caught off guard in a rather welcome way, I looked her in the eyes and saw a slight expression of anguish as she wrestled with the concept. To her, it was counterintuitive in a painful manner.
My boredom dissipated, as did hers.
I helped her visualize light originate from a distant star and speed towards our planet from a given distance in light-years, carrying information about circumstances that are an equal number of years old. She was genuinely trying to comprehend my explanation as I did my best to keep it simple, compelling, and most importantly, accurate. After a few desperate moments of staring into her lap, she abruptly snapped her head up and looked directly at me in awe. I saw the flicker of cognition as the concept clicked in her head and alleviated her prior confusion.
She became very excited and animated.
I genuinely enjoyed the spectacle and thrill of learning that I witnessed in her body language. From there we talked about the speed of light and even the rubber-sheet-like stretching effect that gravity has on the fabric of space-time. She looked at me sideways in shock when I helped her realize that the entire planet was currently operating on every atom in her body in an attempt to pull it towards the planet's core (pull isn't technically correct but I didn't go there). I tried to give her an idea of how weak gravity is compared to nature's other forces by making the point that the nuclear attractive forces holding the atoms and molecules of atoms together in the seat and ground just beneath her were competing with and defeating the whole of earth's gravitational field as it tried drawing her beneath the ground.
This last point was a bit much for her. So she changed gears and *HIT* me with a new question:
Is God real?
I immediately put my head down and envisioned a large disappointed chorus of my dear SVTP believers sighing profoundly in unison. She caught the outward smirk this internal picture painted on my face as I looked down at the table surface with my mind racing to craft an appropriate response with respect to her Catholic upbringing and the truth of my position. I almost went my usual route and said God might be real, but the physical evidence in favor of that possibility is insufficient per my personal standards of accepting such a claim as true. But then I had a flash of brilliance, perhaps.
I posed the question back to her and said this:
This is one of the big questions, if not *THE* big question. Let no one answer this question for you. And ignore anyone claiming certainty on the matter. Always take it upon yourself to consider and contemplate this very, very important question. You must decide this for yourself.
She listened but then laughed and called me out for the nonbeliever I truly am. I didn't confirm or deny her accusation. But I did smile widely when her next question concerned the truth of Santa Clause, as she discovered it some years before.
.
While folks greeted and conversed, we slowly migrated over to a random food court and occupied many of the tables there. Sitting in front of me was a promising 12-year old girl who was quickly becoming bored. I was also growing restless because the impromptu family gathering was an unanticipated dead space in the midst of our sinful gambling-drinking-eating party train, for which Las Vegas is intended.
As I was talking to the 12-year old about things mundane, she suddenly interrupted me and changed the subject by asking if it was really true that starlight from distant stars represented the past. Seriously caught off guard in a rather welcome way, I looked her in the eyes and saw a slight expression of anguish as she wrestled with the concept. To her, it was counterintuitive in a painful manner.
My boredom dissipated, as did hers.
I helped her visualize light originate from a distant star and speed towards our planet from a given distance in light-years, carrying information about circumstances that are an equal number of years old. She was genuinely trying to comprehend my explanation as I did my best to keep it simple, compelling, and most importantly, accurate. After a few desperate moments of staring into her lap, she abruptly snapped her head up and looked directly at me in awe. I saw the flicker of cognition as the concept clicked in her head and alleviated her prior confusion.
She became very excited and animated.
I genuinely enjoyed the spectacle and thrill of learning that I witnessed in her body language. From there we talked about the speed of light and even the rubber-sheet-like stretching effect that gravity has on the fabric of space-time. She looked at me sideways in shock when I helped her realize that the entire planet was currently operating on every atom in her body in an attempt to pull it towards the planet's core (pull isn't technically correct but I didn't go there). I tried to give her an idea of how weak gravity is compared to nature's other forces by making the point that the nuclear attractive forces holding the atoms and molecules of atoms together in the seat and ground just beneath her were competing with and defeating the whole of earth's gravitational field as it tried drawing her beneath the ground.
This last point was a bit much for her. So she changed gears and *HIT* me with a new question:
Is God real?
I immediately put my head down and envisioned a large disappointed chorus of my dear SVTP believers sighing profoundly in unison. She caught the outward smirk this internal picture painted on my face as I looked down at the table surface with my mind racing to craft an appropriate response with respect to her Catholic upbringing and the truth of my position. I almost went my usual route and said God might be real, but the physical evidence in favor of that possibility is insufficient per my personal standards of accepting such a claim as true. But then I had a flash of brilliance, perhaps.
I posed the question back to her and said this:
This is one of the big questions, if not *THE* big question. Let no one answer this question for you. And ignore anyone claiming certainty on the matter. Always take it upon yourself to consider and contemplate this very, very important question. You must decide this for yourself.
She listened but then laughed and called me out for the nonbeliever I truly am. I didn't confirm or deny her accusation. But I did smile widely when her next question concerned the truth of Santa Clause, as she discovered it some years before.
.
Last edited:
