Everyday Lunasea

I've done a few rounds of the online game "Family Feud" (and let me just say, if I ever make it onto that show, I'm not taking G. He came up with "picture a soothing place" for "Name something people do when the doctor gives them a shot." Big ol' X on that one.

Anyway, A. loves to watch me play and gets excited when I get an answer on the board. But one of the questions was "Name something people believe happens to them when they die." Yay. Here come a bunch of heaven and decay questions.

A. comes up with most of his "big" questions when we're in the car. I suppose it's the only time he slows down enough to just sit and think. Usually he asks me questions about God and/or Bad Guys, the two big mysteries he's working on right now. Unfortunately, I seem to be the one who drives him around all the time. G. never gets these questions.

A: Was God around before the world was around?

Me: Yes.

A: Then where did he live? On another planet?

Me: No. God lives in heaven. It's not really a place.

A: Who was the first person?

Me: We don't really know - people evolved from apes all over the world so it's not like there was one first person. Over many many years monkeys turned into people.

A: So humans are a kind of monkey?

Me: Sort of. Not anymore, really. But we have a lot in common with monkeys.

A: Does Jesus make all the people?

Me: Well, not really. Mamas and Papas get together and make babies, and then God gives them a soul.

A: A what?

Me: A soul. It's what makes you you, and Ben Ben. It's the part of you that's alive, and leaves the body when you die.

A: Is it in the blood?

Me: No, it's not really in a part of the body.

A: Is it the skin?

Me: No, it's not a part of the body that you can see or touch. No, Benjamin, I can't get you your cup right now, it's in the trunk. It's hard to explain.

A: What happens to your eyes when you die?

Me: They stay with your body. Look! A train! And we're almost home! Yay!

A: Do we go to heaven when we die?

Me: Yes.

A: But our bodies go in the ground?

Me: Yes. Our souls go to heaven and our bodies go into the ground.

By the end of this conversation, which I tried to keep simple, I was really beginning to doubt the presence of an afterlife. I mean, how are we so sure? There is no evidence at all for it. Really, it all points to the most likely option being nothingness. I'm pretty sure there was no Adam or Eve, so why believe in heaven? Pssssh.

Great. Thanks a lot, A.