Picture this

Do you want to get a glimpse of what your child is thinking about God? Take a hint from the March issue of Life magazine, which contained a delightful photo story featuring "Kids' Pictures to God." In the issue Allison Adato wrote, "We put cameras in the hands of 56 budding photojournalists, ages 8 to 13, and asked them to tackle these tough questions: Who is God? What would you ask God if you could? And how would you show that in a photograph?"

The resulting photos and quotes were amazing. Armando, 12, photographed a lone pinecone and wrote, "I believe it doesn't matter how big things are. What is important is love and happiness." Eleven-year-old Robert photographed two kids' hands mimicking pistols and wrote to God, "Why are there guns?" Loni, 11, photographed a smiling but weakened friend and asked, "Why did God pick Tiffany to have cancer?"

The accompanying article says, "By sharing their notions of God, the kids did what adults rarely can: They revealed their greatest hopes and deepest fears." Try this exercise with your own children. Let them use the family camera, or buy one of the disposable kinds. Ask them to think about the questions, and then simply let them loose to use their imaginations to communicate with God.

You may be surprised (and even disturbed) by what comes out, but I urge you to express curiosity rather than concern. Younger kids are still forming their ideas of God, so don't be upset if they express a skewed theology or their current beliefs don't line up with your adult understanding of the faith. They're using their limited experience of God to make sense of their life as they understand it. Have faith in their development, and use the occasion of this creative exercise to learn more about your child and engage in gentle conversation comparing what your beliefs are to what your child conveys. You might even try the exercise yourself and share the results with your child. In this case, a picture may be worth 10,000 words.

One last gem from the article: Jesus, 11, was asked, "What makes God angry?" He answered, "If we don't respect Him." What makes God happy? He replied, "A cake might make him happy." And that answer makes me quite happy, too.