The Story Begins Read Free

asked.
    “From the doggyman. He says that Jesus is like some really super-magical cool guy who can fly and tells people who like to sleep in caves to wake up and go home.”
    She speculated as to whom the doggyman was and wondered if Jaden’s description of Jesus’ miracles were quoted verbatim; she suspected not. Though they weren’t atheists, religion wasn’t a subject of conversation that was ever engaged in at home so it could only have come from whoever the doggyman is, she thought.
    “Oh honey, I’m sorry but you can’t be Jesus. That would be like me saying that I want to be you. Tell me, do you think that I can be you?”
    “No, silly!” said the sweet child, looking upon his mother askance while adorably tapping his right index finger on his temple as though to indicate to his mother that she was being nutty. “You can’t be me, Mommy.”
    “And why can I not be you?” she asked, smiling at his gesture.
    “Because I am already me,” he explained. “Duh!” he said sweetly.
    “You’re right! And it’s the same with Jesus, sweetie. He’s already himself so no one else can be him. A lot of us would like to be but he got to being himself first. Does that make sense?”
    “Yeah,” he agreed.
    “You can do the next best thing, though,” she reassured him.
    “What’s that, Mommy?”
    “You can be like him,” she said. “You just have to always be good and you’ll be just like Jesus. Does that sound good to you?”
    “Yeah, I can settle for that,” he told her, looking rather disappointed.
    Settle! He’s just six years old. Seems like kids these days are growing up faster and faster, she thought.
    “Did Jesus wear a doggy thing around his neck, Mommy?”
    “Doggy thing?” she repeated, trying to figure out what he meant. Then she understood. “Honey, it’s called a collar. And no, Jesus did not wear one. It’s part of the clothing of a priest. Priests also want to be like Jesus. Just like you, sweetie.”
    “How do I become a priest?”
    She thought perhaps it was time she changed the subject of conversation. “Honey, why don’t we talk about what toys you’ve seen on TV that you’d like to have? There’s plenty of time to do other things when you grow up. And being like Jesus is one of them, okay? For now Jesus would like you to have fun and not think of such things just yet, all right.”
    “Where is he?” he asked, looking around, somewhat baffled. “I don’t see him and didn’t hear him say anything.”
    She laughed. “He’s kind of like the wind. You can feel it but you can’t see it, right?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Jesus is kind of like that. He’s there but you don’t see him.”
    “I’m going outside,” he said. “I’ll be at my swing set, okay?”
    “Okay, honey, be careful.”
    “Yup, yup,” he said then ran off.
    His mother watched him and wondered where this very sudden interest in Jesus was coming from. It certainly wasn’t anything that he’d heard from them or seen on television. Then she remembered. One of their neighbors, who lived a couple of blocks away, was, in fact, a priest. Jaden never spoke to strangers so she was surprised that he had conversations with the priest.
    Outside Jaden sat on the ground, staring up into the heavens and musing over how utterly incredible it must be to walk the world unseen. He had seen super heroes with amazing abilities on television but understood quite well that such was no more than make-believe. Jesus, however, even though unseen, was real, he’d been told. He wondered if it were possible to meet him. Maybe he’d like to play on my swing set, or maybe the monkey bars, he thought. The priest was in the habit of walking by daily and Jaden, with the naiveté entitled to every child, was under the impression that the priest knew Jesus personally and could arrange an audience between himself and his new hero.
     
    IT was almost sundown when his mom called out to him. “Sweetie, it’s time to come in now. Be