Are You There, God? It's Me, Lily.

Lily has been asking a lot of questions about God lately. I think I triggered it on Thursday morning when we were driving to school and we had the following conversation:

Lily: I'm the boss of Jack, right Mom?

Me: No, you aren't the boss of anyone. If you saw Jack doing something wrong, you can stop him from doing it, but you're not the boss of him.

Lily: But you're the boss of me and Jack, right?

Me: Yes, and so is Papa.

Lily: And the teachers are the boss of me at school?

Me: Yes. And do you know who the boss of me is? (I asked because I was curious to see if she would say my parents or Jim were the boss of me).

Lily: God. Because God is the boss of everyone.

Me: Well, I suppose that's true.

Lily: Does God love everyone?

Me: Yep.

Lily: Even if they're bad?

Me: He always loves you, but he gets very disappointed and sad if you're bad and wants you to stop it and try to be good.

Lily: Even bad men?

Me: Especially bad men. God loves everyone the same.

Then we got to school, so the conversation stopped. I felt pretty comfortable with our discussion, but I was totally unprepared for the questions that she asked at dinner that night.

Lily: Papa, who's the boss of God?

Jim: (looks at me in a panic) I guess God is the boss of himself, right?

Me: Yes. He is in charge of everything.

Lily: Does he know everything I'm thinking?

Me: Yes.

Lily (concerned) Does he know where I hide all my secretest treasures and what I'm going to do with them? I don't want anyone to know that!

Me: (praying that her "secretest treasures" are not Sharpie markers) Yes, but God would never tell your secret to anyone in the world, as long as you aren't planning to do something bad (I said this in hopes of thwarting any plans that might damage our house or furniture).

Lily (relieved): Oh, okay. Does he know everything you and Papa are thinking?

Me: Yes. He knows what everyone in the world is thinking.

Lily: Does he have a mother?

Me: (not sure how to answer) No.

Jim: Yes, he does. Mary, Mother of God.

Me: Oh, that's right.

Lily: Why isn't his mother the boss of him?

Jim: I don't know (looking at me. I shrug, I have no idea how to answer that one).

Lily: Does he have cats and dogs at his house?

Jim: I don't know.

Me: Yes, in Kitty and Dog Heaven (because I gave Lily a book about Kitty Heaven when Cooper died, and it quite clearly states that God lets his cats eat their supper on the counter and sleep on his bed).

Lily: That's right. If he's God, he can have whatever he wants at his house, right?

Me: Right.

Lily: And heaven's up in the sky, right?

Me: Yes.

Lily: Okay. Can I be excused?

I would like to think that she is asking about God because she's interested in the subject, and not because she has secret plans to do something naughty and wants to make sure God won't find out and dime her out to us. I'm keeping my eye open for any large amounts of time spent out of our sight, just in case.