Paul J. Pastor, author of A Kids Book About God, talks about seeking through questions and living with open eyes and an open heart.
Paul J. Pastor, author of A Kids Book About God, talks about seeking through questions and living with open eyes and an open heart.
A Kids Book About God (view book)
Full Book Description:
Who is God? Where do I go when I die? Is God even real? This book answers none of these questions, but it asks them all! It is a thoughtful book that enforces no views but stresses the importance of a healthy dialogue, curiosity, love, and wonder.
About the Author:
Paul J. Pastor is a writer, editor, and wilderness lover, who lives in the woods near Portland, Oregon with his wife and three kids. His award-winning writing on Christian spirituality is widely recognized for its beauty and insight. He loves good questions (especially ones about God), big stories, and the holy wonder of living.
*If you want to be on a future episode of A Kids Book About: The Podcast or if you have a question you’d like us to consider, have a grownup email us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com and we’ll send you the details.
A Kids Book About: The Podcast
S1 E15, Paul Talks About God
[INTRODUCTION]
Matthew: What is God?
Piper: I think God is love.
Maya: God is a spirit in every living thing.
Owen: God is like this powerful invisible force or being that’s always looking after you no matter where you go.
Kai: The spirit of the world.
Paul: Well, isn't that a big question? And, as we all know, different people will say really different things about this.
Matthew: Welcome to A Kids Book About, The Podcast! I’m Matthew! I’m a teacher, a librarian, and I’m your host. The voices you heard at the top of our show were from Piper, Maya, Owen, Kai, and Paul.
Each week we talk about the big things going on in your world with a different author from our A Kids Book About series.
[MEET OUR GUEST]
Paul: Hi, my name is Paul J. Pastor. I'm a writer, a dad, and a curious human being who lives in Oregon. I'm also the author of A Kids Book About God.
Matthew: Our conversation today is not about religion, but it is about believing. It’s not about sermons or services, but it is about questions and seeking answers, even if you might never really know the answers.
Paul: I expect some of the people listening to this podcast right now have really different ideas about God. Some of the listeners today might be atheists people who don't believe in God at all. Some might be really religious and really specific about what that's going to mean and have thoughts that are really different than mine and just express those in different ways.
And my hope would be that if we spent time together, we could find something to talk about that is just amazing, like the woods here, or like our own brains that are such an incredible thing. And as we encounter that, my hope would be that we'd be able to move from a place of disagreement or pointing at each other and saying you are wrong and move into a shared place of wonder.
Matthew: The question I’d like you to consider throughout today’s episode is, What do you think of when you hear the word “God”?
Paul: How I think about it is, along with many people, I think of God as the One or the thing who made everything and also what everything is made off. And both of those things are really important for me.
First, God to me is a real person; a somebody, not just a something. But also that somebody is different than all the other somebodies in the whole world, because God and only God, I believe is the one who gives existence to the whole universe.
One really old way of thinking about it says that God is the one in whom we live and move and have our being.
Matthew: People have different names for God. God means different things or exists in different ways for different people. In this way, God is a bit mysterious, right?
Paul: I love science. And one of my favorite places in the whole world is this scientific laboratory in Illinois called Fermilab. I don't know if you've ever heard of it, but it's this amazing particle accelerator, which there's like two of them in the whole world. There's one in Switzerland, I believe. And there's one in Illinois.
I've toured this place several times and you get to talk with some of the scientists and ask them about the experiments that they're doing. And, you know, they're talking about these little things called quarks and muons and like all these weird names. Uh, that sort of work, they tell me, like Legos a little bit. That all of reality is built out of these little tiny things.
But what is most amazing about this is that even with the most powerful brains and equipment in the whole world, they are working with this sense of mystery and wonder, they're asking questions: How does our existence work? Why are we here? What's wrong, really going on?
And even though they're doing this incredible science, they're all kind of walking right up to the edge of this bigger mystery and this bigger question that's behind everything.
And I think that mystery in that question is best called God.
Matthew: I have no doubt that you are full of many beautiful questions. The grownup you live with may also be filled with many beautiful questions. Do you ever share those questions you have with your grownup? The things you wonder? The mysteries you’re pondering? Do you ever ask what questions your grownup is thinking about?
Paul: When I was a kid like, like many of us, my family is a good example of how our questions and beliefs can really change and grow. When I was really little, we didn't talk about God very much at all in my family. It wasn't something that was really done or, felt very important. Uh, and I had lots of questions and like, most kids just really wondered all of these big things going on, but it just didn't really feel like something we talked about.
And then when I was about, Oh, in First grade or so that changed in a really good way. My parents began to talk with each other and with other people about God and it became an important part of our family. And all of a sudden I saw sort of, uh, the cool and interesting things that happen when you start out not really feeling like it's okay to talk about this and then all of a sudden spiritual conversations are part of your life. And that felt really good to me.
Matthew: Your family may have spiritual practices that are different from your friends or neighbors. They might involve going to a place of worship, or spending time in the service of your community, or being immersed in nature and in our connection with the earth. You may also grow to develop different beliefs from your family or your community.
Paul: Of course! It's, often really healthy, not just possible, but really healthy. And the reason for that is because it means we've really thought about it. Speaking as a dad, you know, I've got three kids, 11, nine, and seven. And so they're at that phase where they're asking all the questions all the time and, and kids are spiritually curious.
They just want to know about things and grownups are too, but kids are really spiritually curious. And, speaking, honestly, I would rather, my kids asked the really hard, really important questions, even if they came to some different conclusions than I have personally, rather than not think about them at all and just accept whatever someone else says without thinking about it. And so if you end up having a different set of beliefs from your parents, yeah, that can be stressful. That can cause conflict. You need to talk about those things and be honest and remember that no matter what you end up believing love is still possible between you.
That's all really important. And it's a terrible thing when relationships start breaking down because of these questions, but I think it shows that you actually really care about these questions because it's a more difficult thing to wrestle and then come to a new conclusion for you than it is to simply accept an answer that's been given to you and move on.
And so whatever you end up believing, those questions in that wrestling are very important and they show that you care about those things.
Matthew: Here’s how some listeners responded when I asked them, “How does thinking about God make you feel?”
Owen: Comfortable and happy. Because it makes me feel that I’m always being looked after, and that I’ll never actually be alone.
Piper: God makes me feel safe, loved, and happy.
Paul: It makes me feel good most of the time. You can't really think about God without thinking about the ways that the world is the why's of the world and the how’s of the world. And those, those things lead you to just interesting and fascinating questions.
How do I fit into my world? What is nature? What is the nature of nature? What kind of world is this in which we find ourselves, why do hard things happen? Why do really bad things happen? All of these questions are really interesting. Some of them are hard and some of them are easy and some of them are pleasant and some are unpleasant, but all of them are important.
And so, the feeling that I get from all of them is, “Wow. We live in a world where wonders are just never going to cease.” There's always another thing to be curious about, to inquire about, to live and to learn, and that makes me feel excited.
Matthew: We’ll be back in a minute with Paul - and questions… so many more questions - right after this quick break.
[BREAK]
Matthew: Welcome back to A Kids Book About: The Podcast. On today’s episode we’re talking about God with Paul J. Pastor.
Paul’s connection to A Kids Book About extends beyond when the company first started. His connection with Jelani Memory, our founder, goes way back.
Paul: I've been friends with Jelani ever since college. We met in college and immediately hit it off. We briefly lived together as roommates and we're just close friends and so. You know, Jelani and I have for a long time discussed a lot of these deep questions together and questioned together and were curious together and worked on projects together and along the way, we just found a real shared respect for the way that the other person was in the world and thought about the world.
And so he reached out and very kindly invited me to share my perspective as a dad and as a writer on these things. I do write other books. I'm a writer and an editor, and most of my work is spiritually-focused, so there is a natural connection there. But the questions that kids ask are so unique and so direct and so beautiful and feel often like they are teaching me how to ask the right questions about spirituality. So it felt like a natural fit. And, well, here we are.
Matthew: I happen to be a very big fan of your questions, too, listeners. Questions from students brought some of the greatest joy to teaching for me. And I absolutely delight in the questions my own kids ask.
[LISTENER QUESTION]
So many of you submitted questions for today’s episode.
Today, we’re hearing from Kai in Arizona.
Kai: What does God look like?
Paul: Wow. Kai, you are really thoughtful. I love this question. Thank you. I don't know exactly how God would look to our eyes. Some of the ways people have described God is as perfect light or as wind or as spirit or an amazing cloud or a kind of fire. But I think that all those things are just, um, You know, different ways of trying to express something that we really couldn't fully understand. And in that way, they just help us remember that God is a mystery and amazing mystery.
But even though we can't really say what God looks like, like if we could see Him with our eyes, many people would agree on what God is like. And that's like love and like joy and like peace and all the other really powerful, good qualities of our own spirits just without any end.
Like if there was love, but it never ended. And joy and, and it never ended. And generosity, but it never ended. And that helps me so much. God, I think, looks like how I love my own kids. Just more perfect or like the incredible belonging that we can experience as being really part of the world where we are able to participate in the incredible life that's all around us. I think those things are what God is like. And so sort of what God looks like.
But then, you know, one other thing that I would add, and this is from my own tradition, um, one of the great spiritual teachers, the great spiritual teacher of our tradition, Jesus, uh, really said that God looks like the person who is next to you. And I'm paraphrasing a little bit there, but, I think there's a lot of amazing things we can think about with that teaching as well.
Matthew: I hope that today’s conversation filled you with questions. And I hope those questions lead to more questions. And some conversations. And, especially, some wonder.
Paul: We don't have to figure this stuff all out on our own, even though there are a lot of frustrating or incomplete or even harmful thoughts about God that float around out there. I personally think those are actually the tiny minority compared to the helpful and profound and amazing thoughts about God that other people are sharing too.
People have been asking these questions for tens of thousands of years. And part of the fun of being a person is getting to know and learn and wrestle with these ideas for the rest of your life. You're not going to stop growing. You're not going to stop learning. And even when you find the answer that feels like it fits that, answer that. And if it's real, it's going to just open like a flower and bloom for the rest of your life.
And so my encouragement is to never stop seeking that and to always work, to live with really open eyes and a really open heart, cause those, I think, are just exactly how God wants us to be. And, it's a pretty profound way to live.
[CLOSING]
Matthew: Thank you to Paul J. Pastor, author of A Kids Book About God, for joining us today. And thanks to our very special kid voices for helping make this episode what it is.
Kai: My name is Kai, and I’m 6 years old. I live in Arizona. My favorite thing is dirtbikes.
Maya: My name is Maya. My favorite thing are foxes. I live in Arizona, and I am 9 years old.
Owen: Hi, my name is Owen. I’m 9 years old, and I’m from Maryland. I like to draw and read.
Piper: Hi! I’m Piper. I’m 8 years old, and I’m from Connecticut. My favorite thing is to draw and play with my baby sister.
Matthew: Thank you, Kai, Maya, Owen, and Piper! If you want to be on a future episode of A Kids Book About: The Podcast or if you have a question you’d like us to consider, have a grownup email us at listen@akidspodcastabout.com and we’ll send you the details.
A Kids Book About: the Podcast is written, edited, and produced by me, Matthew Winner, with help from Chad Michael Snavely and the team at Sound On Studios. Our executive producer is Jelani Memory. And this show was brought to you by A Kids Podcast About.
Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, and wherever podcasts are found, and if you liked this episode, consider sharing it with a friend, teacher, or grownup.
Join us next week for a conversation about Depression with A Kids Book About author Kileah McIlvain.