I had one of those interesting experiences with a young girl a bumped into the other day.  When she found out I was a minister she told me earnestly that her mum said that God was just a story the people make up but she believed in God.  She then asked whether Jesus was in my church.

As a parent I am wary of interfering in what another parent might teach or tell their child.  At the same time of this I wanted to affirm the child in her spirituality.  I tried to answer diplomatically saying I had different thoughts to the little girl’s mum and believed that God is more than a story made up by some people.

Hopefully, prayerfully, the seed of spiritual belief that the little girl has been nurtured by what I said.  Yet I can’t help wondering at the difficult journey that little seedling will have in such a hostile environment.

As people of faith in an increasingly secular and even antagonistic environment the example of our belief and spirituality expressed publicly in however a small way I believe is becoming more and more important.

 It left my wondering how I could be a better bearer of good news inviting, encouraging and exampling God’s love so that children such as this one might feel some encouragement in what has already begun to stir in them.