Interesting how Easter can bring out interesting questions from children, especially if they go to a Christ based academic program. In my case, more accurately, it is what I get for sending my children to a school with a spiritual undertone. I was forced to address my own mortality and the prospects of the afterlife.
I thought Easter would be about the bunny, colorful eggs, and candy for most kids, but that was not the case here. One day, the twins and I were having a meal together and the first question I am asked is, "Are you going to get old?" Naturally, I respond with "Yes." Next thing I know, I see this horror and fear in my children's faces. Immediately, they wail, "I don't want you to die!" I quickly try to ease their distress by declaring that "I am not old yet...see I have no grey hair and I am not going to die (not anytime soon, I hope)." Acutally, I have just a few that are well hidden with the help of my stylist. I blame the stress of picking the "right school" as the cause of my discoloration. The twins associate the greying of hair with aging...an accurate observation in the majority of cases. They understand the cycle of life where one is born and gets old and dies.
The next question they ask is "When you die, will you go to heaven?" I tell them "Yes (at least I hope to)." "How will I find you?" is the followup question. I tell them that I will wait for them. So, after our mini discussion I have Emily believing that I will be sitting on a bench in heaven waiting. Emily likens this situation to being at a bus stop or a train station. Ryan is not as easily satisfied as he would like God to return us to Earth to live in our home in the form of a resurrection. I can see that he really likes our home too. I was forced to explain that we would have to stay in heaven and live in a different house.
At this point, I felt overwhelmed with these questions and at the same time rather depressed because I am getting older and will die one day. It is an inevitable cycle, but it is a lot to address over a meal or snack and not something I like to think about often. I knew these questions did not happen randomly. I asked the twins if they talked about Jesus at school and they told me yes. They told me that Jesus died, went to heaven and came back down to Earth. They summarized it quite well and so, now I have my kids believing that when we get to heaven we will wait for each other, just like at a train station or a bus stop.
