The other day I was having snow cones with my four year old granddaughter Lily Grace and she asked me to tell her the story of Spooky and Scooter. Of my three children and seven grandchildren Lily Grace is the one who likes family stories. So I started to tell her the abbreviated stories about the night we got her mother, Spooky the cat and how Scooter (her mother's dog) discovered a crab hole at Pawley's Island. "No start from the beginning" she said. I had only shared these stories with her one time, but she had already committed the details to memory and would have nothing to do with a shorter version. So I went back to the beginning, as we sat on the swings and ate snow cones.

When I had finished she asked me the question "are Spooky and Scooter in heaven?". Since my time was limited and not wanting to get into the philosophy of whether all dogs (and cats) go to heaven I simply said yes. I know some people will not like this answer but at the moment it seemed like the right one. Then Lily Grace said this; "yes I know they are because sometimes when I look at the clouds I see their little claws coming through."

Oh how cute you say. Well I have been thinking about that comment and reveling in its profundity, not in "how cute it is." I thought how easy it is for a four year old to see heaven (God's space, domain, kingdom. dimension) breaking through into our world of space, time and matter! I know many adults, no make that most adults who cannot connect the two. For them God remains in this remote place called heaven to which they hope to go when they die (or could care less, depending on their belief system). But for most whether yea or nay they see no connection, and certainly no "in breaking" of God's Kingdom into this world.

For Lily Grace Scooter and Spooky are not far away; she sees their claws peeking through the clouds. The veil has been rent! I rejoice in that because that means for Lily Grace the Lord is not somewhere out past Pluto, He too is very much a part of her world. I would love to hear all she has to say about that. We will save that conversation for the next time we sit on the swings and have snow cones.