The Kite

"My church is having a picnic in the park on Saturday," Caleb told his new neighbor as the boys worked on making a kite together. "Wanna come? There will be food and games, and you can meet some of the kids I go to church with.""Nah," replied Arjun, tying the last ribbon to the kite's tail. "I'm not really interested in church. My dad says there isn't any God, and I think he's right. When I lived in India, I saw lots of people worship statues that couldn't do anything. Here people worship a God you can't even see, and that doesn't make sense to me either."Caleb's heart sank. How can I explain that God is real, even though we can't see Him? he wondered. "Let's see if this masterpiece will fly," Arjun said, changing the subject. Together the boys ran across the yard. Caleb felt the string pull tight as Arjun let go of the kite. He turned to watch it soar high into the air. "Wow!" exclaimed Arjun. "We did it!"After a while, Caleb handed the string to his friend. "Here, you try it for a while." Arjun eagerly took the line.For a while the boys flew their new kite, passing it back and forth. At last Arjun pulled it in. "That was so cool! It was almost like someone was holding it up there."Caleb grinned. "Yeah. Who do you suppose was doing that? I didn't see anybody or anything holding it up."Arjun laughed. "You can't see the wind, but it holds up the kite and keeps it flying. You can't see it, but you can see what it does!""Just like you can't see God," Caleb pointed out. "But He's there too, and you can see what He does. Just look at everything in nature--the sun, moon, trees, birds, your dog, your family, yourself. God made them all. And you can see what He does in people's lives too. People at my church are always talking about how knowing Jesus has changed them and how He fills them with love and peace. Could anyone else do that?"Arjun was silent for a moment. "Maybe you're right," he said at last. "I'll have to think about it."-Jean A. Burns