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Author Topic:   God Lives Under the Bed...
juniperb
Knowflake

Posts: 7008
From: Blue Star Kachina
Registered: Mar 2002

posted December 16, 2002 02:45 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for juniperb     Edit/Delete Message
For those of us who forget our inner child & the basics of faith. (God is how it was written,please use your personal term for infinite intelligence)

God Lives Under the Bed.

Don't start reading this one until you've got more than 3 or 4 minutes to just "scan" over it. It deserves some time for reflection.

My brother Kevin thinks God lives under his bed. At least that's what I heard him say one night. He was praying out loud in his dark bedroom, and I stopped outside his closed door to listen. "Are you there, God?" he said.

"Where are you? Oh, I see. Under the bed."

I giggled softly and tiptoed off to my own room. Kevin's unique perspectives are often a source of amusement. But that night something else lingered long after the humor. I realized for the first time the very different world Kevin lives in.

He was born 30 years ago, mentally disabled as a result of difficulties during labor. Apart from his size (he's 6-foot-2), there are few ways in which he is an adult. He reasons and communicates with the capabilities of a 7-year-old, and he always will. He will probably always believe that God lives under his bed, that Santa Claus is the one who fills the space under our tree every Christmas, and that airplanes stay up in the sky because angels carry them. I remember wondering if Kevin realizes he is different. Is he ever dissatisfied with his monotonous life? Up before dawn each day, off to work at a workshop for the disabled, home to walk our cocker spaniel, return to eat his favorite macaroni-and-cheese for dinner, and later to bed.

The only variation in the entire scheme are laundry, when he hovers excitedly over the washing machine like a mother with her newborn child. He does not seem dissatisfied. He lopes out to the bus every morning at 7:05, eager for a day of simple work. He wrings his hands excitedly while the water boils on the stove before dinner, and he stays up late twice a week to gather our dirty laundry for his next day's laundry chores. And Saturdays-oh, the bliss of Saturdays! That's the day my Dad takes Kevin to the airport to have a soft drink, watch the planes land, and speculate loudly on the destination of each passenger inside. "That one's goin' to Chi-car-go!" Kevin shouts as he claps his hands. His anticipation is so great he can hardly sleep on Friday nights.

And so goes his world of daily rituals and weekend field trips. He doesn't know what it means to be discontent.

His life is simple. He will never know the entanglements of wealth of power, and he does not care what brand of clothing he wears or what kind of food he eats. His needs have always been met, and he never worries that one day they may not be. His hands are diligent. Kevin is never so happy as when he is working. When he unloads the dishwasher or vacuums the carpet, his heart is completely in it. He does not shrink from a job when it is begun, and he does not leave a job until it is finished. But when his tasks are done, Kevin knows how to relax.

He is not obsessed with his work or the work of others. His heart is pure. He still believes everyone tells the truth, promises must be kept, and when you are wrong, you apologize instead of argue. Free from pride and unconcerned with appearances, Kevin is not afraid to cry when he is hurt, angry or sorry. He is always transparent, always sincere. And he trusts God.

Not confined by intellectual reasoning, when he comes to Christ, he comes as a child. Kevin seems to know God - to really be friends with Him in a way that is difficult for an "educated" person to grasp. God seems like his closest companion. In my moments of doubt and frustrations with my Christianity, I envy the security Kevin has in his simple faith. It is then that I am most willing to admit that he has some divine knowledge that rises above my mortal questions. It is then I realize that perhaps he is not the one with the handicap - I am. My obligations, my fear, my pride, my circumstances - they all become disabilities when I do not trust them to God's care. Who knows if Kevin comprehends things I can never learn?

After all, he has spent his whole life in that kind of innocence, praying after dark and soaking up the goodness and love of God. And one day, when the mysteries of heaven are opened, and we are all amazed at how close God really is to our hearts, I'll realize that God heard the simple prayers of a boy who believed that God lived under his bed.

Kevin won't be surprised at all!

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theFajita
Knowflake

Posts: 2007
From: Boca Raton, FL USA
Registered: Sep 2002

posted December 16, 2002 11:22 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for theFajita     Edit/Delete Message
Oh that was really beautiful.


The material world seems to pull us so far away, right? Well I know, I let it pull me. That was really great!

------------------
Food is the only art that nourishes!

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scorplamb82
Knowflake

Posts: 49
From: New York
Registered: Dec 2002

posted December 20, 2002 12:12 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for scorplamb82     Edit/Delete Message
I enjoyed that post also. It was very thought provoking. Sometimes I wish that life was so simple....

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weeseldad
Knowflake

Posts: 200
From: near the tidewater area of the Chesapeake Bay
Registered: Aug 2004

posted May 15, 2008 10:58 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for weeseldad     Edit/Delete Message
Juni; I think that post is so beautiful and so right. I teach third graders Catholic Bible studies each year and the simplicity of their belief always reminds me that faith in God is not supposed to be complicated. We all need to just "Let go and let God".

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May you walk in peace and harmony with the Great Spirit and may the Light of the Father light your way. weeseldad(bob)

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charmainec
Moderator

Posts: 319
From: south africa
Registered: Dec 2007

posted May 16, 2008 03:28 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for charmainec     Edit/Delete Message

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Aphrodite
Knowflake

Posts: 5022
From:
Registered: Feb 2002

posted July 21, 2008 12:02 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Aphrodite     Edit/Delete Message
This is beautiful.

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lalalinda
Moderator

Posts: 3588
From: nevada
Registered: Jun 2005

posted July 21, 2008 02:57 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for lalalinda     Edit/Delete Message
precious

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TINK
Knowflake

Posts: 4037
From: New England
Registered: Mar 2003

posted July 21, 2008 10:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for TINK     Edit/Delete Message
thank you, Juni

quote:
...the simplicity of their belief always reminds me that faith in God is not supposed to be complicated.

Amen, weeseldad.

be ye as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves

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BlueRoamer
Knowflake

Posts: 4571
From: Calm Blue Ocean, Calm Blue Ocean
Registered: Jun 2003

posted July 21, 2008 01:01 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for BlueRoamer     Edit/Delete Message
I've worked with the mentally disabled and I know them to be god's favored.


The rest of us are screwed

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