by Bernadette Bonanno
Children, with their innate curiosity, often surprise us with impromptu questions. Whenever this happens, I am caught off guard. Aware of their limited attention span, my mind’s Rolodex spins to locate a concise answer. Inevitably, my response is clumsy, and the child skips off to the next thing. Disappointed, I lament having missed the window of opportunity.
I privately compose a “better” response with the hope they inquire again.
My grandfather’s 12-inch crucifix hangs on the wall in our home next to the towel and toy closet.
Enter our 5-year-old granddaughter, Louisa, who loves to draw and take “pool baths.”
Searching for Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Daisy in the toy bin to accompany her in the bathtub, Louisa glimpsed my grandfather’s crucifix.
Appearing baffled, as if seeing it for the first time, she blurted, “Grandma! What does that mean?”
I wish I could have told her what I am about to say. Of course, I didn’t get a chance. The “pool bath” was filling, and Mickey and the gang were eager to dive in.
All I could come up with was, “Loubie, Jesus gave his life to show that he loves and forgives us always.”
That was it. The window of opportunity closed. She gave me the “OK-grandma-whatever-you-say-look” and took off for the tub with toys and a towel.
Disappointed at my wimpy response, I privately composed what I “should” have said:
“Louisa, while Jesus was living, people believed that to be forgiven for their mistakes, they had to offer a beautiful, innocent animal like a lamb, goat, pigeon, or dove to the temple leaders. It was called a sacrifice, and the animal was killed. It doesn’t make sense to us now, but that is what people believed. When Jesus died on the cross, he was showing us what his cousin, John the Baptist, said about him, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’ By dying on the cross, Jesus was saying, ‘I am the lamb! I am the last sacrifice. I forgive your sins and the sins of all the world.’
Being crucified was terribly painful, but I am no longer on the cross. … It is done. Anything you do would not make me love you any less! I love you completely.’ ”
After the “pool bath,” I mopped up the mess from Mickey and his gang, while Louisa grabbed markers and paper to draw me two pictures. As I walked into the kitchen, she shoved her drawing into my hand and skipped off.
On one side of the paper, Jesus hangs on a dark cross. Each eye is drawn with an X, signifying pain. On the other side of the paper, she drew a smiling, colorful Jesus with customary facial hair, wide, round eyes, and arms with fingers outstretched. To his right is a huge red heart. To his left are the words, “GOD LOVE.”
Sufficiently humbled at my hubris in composing a more “profound” response, I now know what Jesus meant when he said, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Mark 10:14).
Bernadette Bonanno lives in Albany and enjoys writing on faith and family.